On Edge
by greenlemons
Summary: Sookie is looking for a new partner. What happens when Eric finds himself working intimately with the young figure skater? And they are forced to keep the sexual tension on ice, by not acting on their feelings? AH/AU
1. Denial and Skates

**AN: Yes. I am writing a new fic. Shoot me. This is my attempt at Icey!Eric. I am so excited! I'm not too familiar with skating and ice dancing in general but I'll be doing some research on it. I hope you guys enjoy and nicely review for my new story! Thanks!**

**Thanks to elbly for being a great beta! and who knows a thing or two about skating. Like Eric and Sookie -- we are a perfect match.  
**

_On Edge_

Eric found himself sitting in an empty hockey arena, watching his sister coach her new prospects. A young woman who had already competed in the Olympics, by the name of Sookie Stackhouse, and a man who was trying to gain the on-ice chemistry with his new partner, Sam Merlotte. His sister, Pam, was so focused on Sookie – she was all she could talk about. "Sookie does the best triple-axel you've ever seen...Sookie can bend in any way, you should see her when Sam lifts her over his shoulder and her back folds over..."

Today he was picking her up for the two of them to go to dinner. Pam had been trying to get him to see this Sookie practice for the three months that Pam had been their coach. Making him wait in the stands was the only way she'd get him to see it.

He'd given up on figure skating.

Sookie's old partner, a man by the name of Bill Compton, had recently died not six months ago. Instead of wallowing over her loss, she searched for a new coach and a new partner, and found both. Between Pam's dominant, controlling personality and Sookie's apparent stubbornness there was a lot of clashing between the two, as much as there was fawning over the others talents. Pam loved Sookie's fluid movements on the ice. Apparently Sookie respected Pam's firm determination on what she thought was right. Either way, from what Eric could tell, it was working awfully.

Not Pam. Not Sookie.

But this Sam wasn't very good.

He snorted, shaking his head and putting his forehead in gloved hands. Sam fumbled with Sookie, he skidded across the ice – there was no chemistry. Sookie, for all she was worth, worked her ass off each time they restarted their routine, Sam was lazy and awkward. Eric could tell the guy was trying, but he just wasn't good. That was all there was to it. Sookie wouldn't win any competitions as long as she had this asshole as her partner.

His sister was losing her patience. She was becoming short with everything Sam did. He watched her move over to Sookie and demonstrated how he should be holding her. Eric shook his head when Pam blatantly grabbed Sookie's ass. That was his sister.

He was getting sick of freezing his ass off in the cold stands. He'd been waiting for almost forty minutes. He hated ice dancing.

"Pam!" he snapped across the ice, his voice travelling. The three looked over to where at him. He was, impatiently glaring at his sister. He saw Pam mutter something to her team of two and skated over to where he was in the stands. "You're taking too long," Eric stated, his eyes flickering over her shoulder to at Sookie was trying to instruct Sam on how to twirl her.

Pam had that evil glint in her eye that had Eric recoil. "You know, Eric..."

"Pam, get your ass off the ice or I'm leaving," Eric hissed before she could finish that thought.

Pam rolled her eyes. "Fine. Bye."

Eric scowled, hating that he had come down here for the very reason she wanted. Her attempt at getting him to see Sookie had been successful. "Goodbye," Eric said snippily, not falling for the bait. He stormed out of the arena faster than he knew his sister would have liked.

There was no way he was taking a step back and returning to that god-awful _sport_.

He angrily pushed open the doors of the arena stepping out into the snowy night. He had his toque on and his winter boots – the weather man had said there would be ten inches over night. He strode over to his car feeling incredibly pissed at his sister. He slammed the door shut and started the car, waiting a few minutes for it to warm up. He noticed his windshield was already thick with snow and he got out, grumbling, bringing the brush to dust it all off.

There was no way he was going to be suckered into this with the insistence of Pam's mind games. He was too old for the ice unless he was playing hockey with his friends. He got back into the car and rubbed his gloved hands together warming up his fingertips. Unbelievable. He was driving off down the snowy, deserted side street. His phone was ringing. He dug it out of his pocket and slid it open, which was difficult to do with gloved hands.

"What?"

"Sookie likes you," Pam teased, whispering. She was making this call while she gave her skaters a ten minute break.

"Pam, shut the fuck up," he found himself sighing, stopping at a red-light, despite the empty roads.

"I told her about your ice dancing past. Despite you're awkward height, you are surprisingly graceful, big brother. She even said she remembers watching you perform."

"Is that when she was in diapers?"

"Oh come on, you're not that old. And you and I both know you miss it. Admit it," she continued.

"Bye, Pam," he said firmly, snapping the phone closed and tossing it onto the passenger seat.

He hadn't skated in three years. Why should some girl change his mind? Why was this such a big deal to Pam? He groaned feeling guilty for not helping his little sister out. But then he realized that's exactly what she wanted and he shook that thought right out of his head.

He had a good job now. He was a carpenter and had good steady work that was a hell of a lot more manly then being a fucking figure skater. He hadn't exactly woke up at a young age and told his parents his dreamed of wearing flamboyant costumes and choreographed routines, that it was all he wanted in life. His mother was one. He grew up on the ice.

His phone buzzed again. "No," he said aloud to himself. "No," he whispered fiercely.

Since their mother died three years ago, his desire to pursue the career vanished along with her life. She had been such a presence, such a force that her encouragement and her belief in him had inspired him in winning a gold medal at eighteen at the Olympics and winning the World Tournament twice before he was twenty-two.

Figure skating wasn't part of his life now and for that he was glad.

He looked at the clock and saw that it was eight o'clock on a Friday night and he was heading home. It was sort of like when he was back skating; early to bed, early to rise. He picked up his phone, ignoring his missed calls and dialled his friend Alcide. He was at their regular bar and Eric found himself saying he'd be there soon.

He walked into the bar, like every other night, and left it with a girl, like every other night.

***

His home phone was ringing. He groaned, lifting his head off the pillow. He felt someone's legs tangled with his, he pulled away and sat up slowly, the phone still ringing away. He checked the time. It was nine-thirty.

He picked up his cordless and yawned a good morning. "Eric," Pam said. "Could you go get me and my skaters some coffee and doughnuts?" He could not believe she was doing this. He saw them once, and she thought she already had him by the horns.

"Pam, _what the hell_?" he snapped. He may as well get up. He wandered out of the room, not even glancing at the stranger in his bed.

She was silent on the other line. "I want you to help Sam. If it doesn't work out, I'll never even talk about any of this ever again," she said. "Please?, Ffor me."

He opened his fridge and stared at its empty contents.

Despite his denial, he was curious and he hated himself for it. He didn't want Pam to think he was caving in to her wishes. Here he was about to have another deliberate talk with another girl and tell her that it was fun, but he had to go. Why lie this time? He told Pam he'd do it, against his better judgement. His body was already revolting at the idea of getting back near the ice.

It was all he could think of. His compulsion to be in the arena again was aggravating. He was like a drug addict after a long lapse of nothing; he was crawling back, distracted for another taste.

He walked up the stairs to his room and shook the girl awake. She looked up at him with a lazy smile, looking pleased as punch.

"Hey, listen, I have to go meet my sister in like ten minutes, so do you think maybe..." He rarely had to finish that sentence before the girl was scrambling out of bed, waking herself up as fast as she could.

He put on some deodorant in his washroom and fresh clothes before he was waiting at the front door for the girl. She came down the stairs with a guilty expression on her face.

"So, will you call me?" she asked slowly. Couldn't he ever find a girl with self-esteem? Nope that would require looking for a solid girl who needed dates before she put-out.

"Yeah, sure, I have your number on my phone. It was fun," he said as he ushered her out the door locked shut behind him. He went to his car in his drive and she helplessly found herself in a neighbourhood she was unfamiliar with. He waved and drove out to a coffee shop.

***

Pam skated to the stands stopping right in front of Eric who held out a tray of coffee and a box of doughnuts.

"I knew you'd come," she grinned. "Now get on that ice."

"Don't have skates," Eric smirked. Eric one, Pam zero.

"I have them." Losing...

His's face fell. "What?"

"Well I wasn't going to let you just throw them out! You worked those things in. It was drenched in your blood, sweat and tears. So when I told you I was throwing them out, I lied. Get on that ice, pastry boy," Pam pointed. Eric looked across to see Sam nearly drop Sookie. He rolled his eyes to the ceiling, not believing what he was about to do.

"I'm not putting skates on," he muttered. He opened the small door and walked onto the ice, careful not to fall and look as much as a fool as Sam. He had lived on the ice for twenty-three years of his life – being back on it, without skates, felt so normal and so _good_. He shook his head at falling into this again. He glanced over his shoulder to where Pam was looking triumphant with her coffee clutched in her hands, an evil grin on her face. Bitch.

He saw Sookie and Sam finally notice him, a small blush of surprise reached the young woman's cheeks. He did not have time for this. Sam had his arm around Sookie's waist about to try and lift her up on his shoulders and spinning her around his neck and under his arm. Eric knew Pam had hired swing dancing instructors to help them out with that move. Eric hadn't done it before, but he could figure it out without having seen it properly.

Without saying a word he yanked Sookie from Sam's weak hold and did the exact move that Sam had been practicing for weeks, in one shot. He gracefully held Sookie in his arms and settled her back on the ice. Like the expert she was she kicked her leg out and extended her hand out as she pulled away from him, their clasped hands far out. Eric let go and gave Sam a '_really?'_ look. He heard Pam skate over, a look of awe on her face.

"Sam," she breathed. "_That's_ what I want to see." Sam was glaring at Eric, but nodded at his coach respectfully.

"Wow," Sookie uttered, her blue eyes bright. "Do you have skates? Maybe you could help me and Sam out some more. Pam can only do so much. She can't lift me."

Eric really didn't want to. He raised a brow and saw how much Sam did not want him to help them and that made the proposition a little more appealing. He found he didn't like the short, scruffy man.

"Eric," Pam gripped his arm tightly as if to say _you're not going anywhere you bastard_. "Can you lift Sookie high above your head? Sookie arch your back, grab the bottom of your skate if you can. And _look into each other's eyes_," Pam hissed dangerously. If Eric knew anything it was to not go against Pam's wishes at the moment, or murder would be on her hands.

"Yes," Sookie said abruptly. She looked about ready to wet herself from excitement. Sam crossed his arms a look of fury on his face. Eric rolled his eyes at the situation. It was pathetic.

Eric wanted to say no.

He saw the eager girl bouncing with excitement, saw the angry, ignored partner and his threatening sister. Without another word he picked Sookie up at the waist and raised her over his head easily. He angled her so that her head was facing the ice and her legs were high in the air. She arched her back and reached out and swiftly to grab her skate. He looked up and found her eyes already waiting for his.

As soon as they met, he knew he was screwed.

Everything clicked into place and the rarity of finding that with a stranger was too common. The chemistry between skating partners was as, often just as important as the routine itself. He felt it in his bones that he and Sookie would make a great pair. He just didn't want to be a part of it. He lowered her slowly, their eyes still locked and she elegantly relaxed back onto the rink. Even now on the ice, he searched her blue orbs hoping to find something that wouldn't work, but couldn't.

Her small hands were on his forearms and she squeezed them, gleefully.

"Oh my God," she whispered. Eric wasn't having this. He looked away to Pam.

"I have to go," he said. Sookie's nails dug into his skin.

"No! Please, don't," she said. She glanced at Sam and seemed to realize that she was being rather mean to her real partner. "Help us, that's all I ask," she said urgently. "Don't leave."

Eric felt his resolve wavering.

"Please," she said, bouncing slightly. "I'm desperate – _we're_ desperate."

"We really are," Pam said, giving him a pointed look.

Usually if a woman told Eric they were desperate for him, he would not hesitate to comply to her wishes. In this situation, it wasn't about sex. It was about going back to the thing he thought he left behind for good. This wasn't progress. He was over skating...or so he thought.

"Alright," he said hoarsely. The smile that spread across Sookie's face caused his heart to leap erratically. He wondered how she looked when she won. He wanted to know.

"Thank you!" she said. "Watch me and Sam do our routine and then tell us what you think," she said quickly, her energy increasing ten-fold. She grabbed her partner's hand and led him across the ice.

She really had talent.

Too bad she had a shitty partner.

He heard Pam snicker. "Don't," he said.

"Eric," Pam said, trying to make her face serious. "You have intense chemistry with Sookie. We should ditch Sam and replace him with you."

"No," Eric said, putting his foot down. "I'm helping, that's all. I'll teach Sam how to handle her and then I'm out. You can take all the credit."

Pam rolled her eyes. "You're not coaching for me."

"Oh really? Why do you need me, then?" he gave his sister a sceptical look as to her intentions.

"I want you and Sookie to be mine. I don't want Sam. Sookie has a soft spot for him and I've already tried to convince her to ditch him. Now she's seen you, now that she's felt what you two have, it'll only be a matter of time before she drops him and comes crawling and begging for you. She loves skating more than being a decent person. She might pretend that she cares about Sam's feelings, but if it comes down to doing her best or feeling pity, she'll do what she has to. You're better for her. She felt it, you felt it, I felt it, hell, Sam felt it...imagine what a sympathetic crowd will feel when you two get your moves down and you get to know one another. The intensity...it'll be fucking hot. People will want you two to fuck in front of them."

The nice speech turned into a dirty one like most with Pam. Eric couldn't help but feel convinced. He was going to do his best to stay away from becoming Sookie's partner. He couldn't go back on the ice, it reminded him too much of his mother. He couldn't even look at it before, but when he came last night to meet Pam and saw Sookie on the ice, he remembered why he loved it. She had a skill that was unique to any he had seen before. Her style was similar to his mother's and he couldn't help but feel...intrigued.

He remembered he was supposed to be watching Sookie and Sam and he looked out at them. Sam was doing his best to up Eric, but couldn't. Maybe he was nervous, but his arms shook when he tried to mimic the move Eric just did with Sookie. She hadn't been expecting it and Eric closed his eyes as he watched Sam drop Sookie on the ice.

"I'm so sorry, Sookie."

"No, no, it's fine. I've fallen before, believe me," he heard her sigh.

"No, oh shit," Sam's frantic words carried across the arena.

"Sam, please calm down. We just have to practice," he heard her skates back on the ice and Eric looked up again to see Sam trying to pull Sookie into a hug.

"Let's start from the beginning again, shall we?" she smiled genuinely. She was so sweet, Eric noted. He groaned in frustration.

"I can't work with him," Pam stated.

"You're going to have to. He comes with Sookie," Eric reminded his sister.

"Until you move in. Use that charisma you have with the ladies. Sookie will be putty in your hands. I'm sure you can get her to have you as a partner. It's only a matter of time," Pam tutted. Eric wondered how true that was. "Oh," he heard his sister jeer. "This is going to be good."

**Hello. Yes. I like to make fun of Sam. If you want more of that. Click the green button. (Sam is too close to being Sookie's potential suitor for me to ever like the guy). SO REVIEW! ERIC FTW!**


	2. Research and Talking

**AN: *biggest smile you will ever see* The response for this story is so freaking crazy! I'm real excited about it all! You guys, seriously, are the best readers in the whole entire world. I can't thank you enough. I wouldn't be writing without all of you! *hugs and squeezes* I love you all so very much! Here is more of our skaters, trying to figure out what's going to happen next!!**

**I have a banner for this story that you can view in my profile made by the lovely CarolinaGirl96a !! It's SO SO PRETTY! I ADORE IT!  
**

**Thanks to the loveliest beta, elbly! :D She got this into me before she succumbed to sleep -- what an awesome being! LOVE!  
**

_On Edge: _Chapter 2

Eric sat in his house later that night at the computer, youtubing clips of Sookie's past performances. She was only twenty years old and she'd been competing professionally since she was eight. She was good – she could be excellent if she had a decent partner. Bill had been fine, but the reason she only won fourth place in the Olympics nine months ago was because they, as a couple, seemed...off.

He checked out interviews that the two of them had done. Again, Bill was rather stiff and would only answer with one word, maybe two. Sookie was giggly and personable as she talked about their routine and their relationship. She admitted that they were dating. The interviewer asked if she felt that that took away from their performance without that sexual tension. Sookie hesitated before Bill interrupted with a sound, "No."

What an asshole.

He looked between old clips of the two of them when Sookie was only sixteen compared to her at twenty and Eric noticed a difference. Their chemistry _was_ better in the beginning; it was probably because she was too young for them to date. Either way, he wondered why their relationship had such an effect on their skating. Maybe it was just Bill.

Curious, Eric looked up the death of Bill Compton. It was in newspapers, more prominently in Sookie and Bill's home state of Louisiana. He was in a car accident. There were photos from the funeral and Eric saw a devastated Sookie. He closed his laptop, leaned back in his swivel chair and thought.

Was he really going to do this?

He wasn't going to go back to skating, he reminded himself firmly. He had never done pair skating – only single men's figure skating. He had only practiced with pairs a few times for fun, he knew the logistics but he had never had a partner. He didn't think he could do it, no matter how sweet Sookie might be. But, he _wanted_ to do it.

Fucking Pam.

Fucking Sookie.

Fucking Sam – he was awful!

He had received a text from Pam asking him to be at the rink at five-thirty the next morning. And dammit, he knew he'd be going. Shit.

Pam had been trying to get him to get back on the ice for three years now, and suddenly a young _girl_ comes along and he's inspired to get back on the ice? He went up the stairs. Vigorously, angrily he brushed his teeth and found himself under the covers by ten. Like clock-work. His body knew when to get back into the rhythm of a skater's lifestyle and he was dragged into a deep sleep before he knew it.

His inner skating timer woke him up at five without an alarm clock. He struggled out of bed and pulled on some jeans, a t-shirt and a sweater over. He was heading to his car ten minutes later as if he hadn't lost the past three years.

Since it was November, the mornings were very dark. The snow had finally stopped as he pulled up across the street from the arena. He got out of his car with the coffee and doughnuts like the day before. The janitor opened the door for him. He walked in and past the stands as he went to the small door that led onto the ice. Only Sookie was here so far. She was skating around in circles warming up. He balanced the items on the ledge and walked onto the ice. A huge smile spread across Sookie's face when she saw him, gliding in front of him.

"Hey," she said. She was in black yoga pants tucked into her skates and a simple light blue long-sleeved shirt, her hair pulled back into a pony tail and no make-up. Her cheeks were flushed pink and he noticed her hands were rather red in the cool icy air. She'd warm up soon enough.

"Hi," he said, feeling weird. He still had his gloves on but opted to take his winter jacket off and put it next to the food. "Coffee?" he asked.

She shook her head, her hair swinging. "No, I don't drink the stuff. I prefer tea," she shrugged. He'd have to remember that. She slapped her thighs and he saw her red hands again. He wanted to warm them. "So," she said shortly. This was turning into an awkward situation. She fluttered her eyes as she looked around quickly. "I just wanted to say, I've been Googling you since I met you two days ago. You're...amazing," she breathed. "I mean it, you are just – it's a shame you quit, you know. I mean you've won a gold medal! And, gosh, it was well deserved. I don't," she flushed brighter, shaking her head, looking down at her skates. "I really admire you. I'm so thankful that you're helping me and Sam out."

Eric let her praise sink in. He nodded, trying to keep his cool. "Sam needs it, you don't. I've uh, looked you up on the internet too." Their eyes met and he felt that compulsion – he wanted to skate with her.

"You have?" her voice was small, her mouth open in an 'o' shape, her eyes bright and excited. He wanted to fuck her. That was all he could rationalize in that moment.

"Good morning! Eric, look at that, you _do_ remember how to wake up early. Yum, coffee. Hi, Sookie." Eric cursed his sister. He wanted to splash the hot coffee in her face. He turned around and got a coffee of his own. "Brother, I brought your skates. Think you'll use them today?"

"No," he said shortly, sipping away. He saw Sookie's face flash in disappointment before she twirled back onto her warm-ups doing a little jump here and there. "Where's Sam?" he asked Pam.

"He'll be here soon. He's not a morning person," she said giving her brother an awful look. As if there was more that Sam could be bad at.

Sam wasn't late, but he did arrive one minute before five-thirty, hastily tying his skates and stumbling onto the ice. Eric's eyes widened at this guy. Where the hell did Sookie find him? When he had tried looking him up on Google last night, he found nothing about Sam Merlotte. So, he was a newbie. What was someone like Sookie doing with someone like Sam?

Eric stood by the boards while Pam skated around with Sam and Sookie. They were doing twirls on the ice today, no air, no jumps – just regular twirls, alone and with one another. Sookie spun like the expert she was while Sam was good...Eric, being experienced, could see his rough edges. He couldn't help but shake his head in astonishment the entire time.

And when it was time for Sam and Sookie to be in sync or to spin together, Sam would be a half-second off of Sookie's perfect timing.

"Eric," Pam called out to him. He nodded that he heard them. "Do you think you could help us out? You've been watching for a while, do you have any suggestions."

_Fire Sam. _

"Nope."

"If you got your skates on, you could show them what I'm looking for. No offense, darlings but something is off."

_Yeah, Sam. _

Eric inhaled. He was not putting those damn skates on. At least, not today.

He ended up retreating to the stands and watching from there, memorizing and familiarizing himself with Sookie's mannerisms, her style and her rhythm. He was pretty sure he knew all her tricks, even though she hadn't displayed them. He could tell just from the way her body moved what she could do and what she couldn't, Sookie could do a lot more than she gave herself credit for, as much confidence as she had, she was just as self-conscious. Sam wasn't helping much.

His muscles, his bones were aching to get on that ice and show Sookie what it's like to be handled on skates. She had had crappy partners – Bill and now Sam. He knew he could show her a better way, even though he had never done pair skating before. He felt as if he'd get the hang of it quick enough and then he could toe pick the crap out of Merlotte.

Eric gritted his teeth as Sam twirled Sookie; she had perfect form and he had his elbows jutting out. Pam kept her distance so she wasn't wailed in the face with pointy bones. His sister's annoyed gaze met his and she was calling a break. Eric saw Sam glaring at him as Sookie glided over to stop in front of the board.

"You decide to get those skates on, yet?" she asked, leaning against it, her head resting on her arm giving him a sweet expression. Was it so wrong that he was twenty-six and she was twenty?

"I won't be doing that," Eric said when he saw Pam look hopefully at Sookie's persuasiveness. He couldn't let Pam see that Sookie was actually swaying him to tie those damn laces up. He had to be firmly sitting on his ass.

"Next time, then," Sookie said. "Well, do you have any comments, questions...concerns? I'm _dying_ to know what you're thinking." Sookie's Southern drawl was really prominent in that sentence. Eric wondered how long she'd been living up here, where snow existed.

Eric gave her a strained smile. Her beaming face fell.

"What?" she said, straightening up, looking panicked at his response. "What? Was I doing something wrong?"

Eric felt his heart leap at her anxiety. He couldn't call Sam out though. "You were fine, Sookie."

Her eyes widened. "Fine?!" she shrieked. Pam wasn't kidding when she mentioned something about Sookie's perfectionism. No matter how involved, how far Eric got in skating he was always easily relaxed like his mother taught him to be. Sookie was high strung, self-conscious and on the verge of tears.

Eric found himself standing up slowly approaching Sookie. She pushed herself away from the stands, turning around, hiding her face from him.

"What did you say?" Pam asked, skating over, with Sam putting an arm around Sookie. Eric hated how she leaned into his hold.

"I said nothing, she misinterpreted it," Eric said, his voice clipped. He wasn't going to put up with this prima donna bullshit. He grabbed his jacket and began to exit the arena.

"Eric!" he heard Pam shout after him. Once again, he found himself storming out, pissed off. The sun was up now, and he slammed himself in his car.

He took a few minutes to take deep breaths, reigning in his rage – something his mother always tried to remind him to do. His anger had gotten him into trouble more than a few times. Sookie probably read about that too. He'd been arrested once, he remembered, at a bar, he was drunk and nineteen and a guy was hitting on his girlfriend. Needless to say he was nearly disqualified from the World Tournament that year, but he ended up winning it that first time with his skill and not his reputation.

He was not going to subject himself to Sookie's erratic emotions and her unknowingly annoying attachment to Sam. He started the car, letting it warm up in the below zero morning.

Just when he was about to start the car and leave, someone opened the passenger door. He looked over and saw Sookie settling into the seat beside him. She had run out with hardly a jacket and her guards on the bottom of her skates, too big for them. She had no doubt struggled quickly outside. He wished he saw that.

She turned in her seat. "Hi," she said. Eric gave her a cross between a look of amusement and annoyance.

"Yes?" he asked tensely.

"I don't know what happened in there," she said quickly. She smoothed her hair back, it was becoming loose from her ponytail. "I'm a bit of a perfectionist I guess –"

"Then why are you with Sam?" Eric found himself saying before he could filter it. She gave him a look that reminded him of a deer caught in the headlights.

"You're..." she looked away out the windshield, shivering. Eric turned up the heat, the car finally warming up. "You're not the first person to ask me that."

"If you truly cared about your craft you'd ditch him," he said, shaking his head, looking away from her twisted expression.

"He's from home and..."

"Is that all? Sookie, I watched you and your a thousand leagues better than Sam. He's going to be the end of your career as long as you keep him."

She exhaled loudly. "That's harsh."

"You've met the judges, you know harsh."

"Yeah," she murmured. He looked at her and realized how young, how naive despite her years of experience she was. She hadn't ever had a good partner. "It's just, after Bill...I couldn't imagine myself going with just _anyone_. Sam used to be a part of the small group we had in Louisiana," she smiled slightly. "And, I don't know. I saw him again at the funeral and...He's a good guy," she looked over at him and gave him the most earnest look he ever saw. She was loyal, he'd give her that. "But...I think you're right. And I think he knows it too."

"Pam knows it."

Sookie shook with silent laughter, looking back out into the snow covered lawns of the slow, early morning neighbourhood surrounding the community center. "I don't know how to tell him."

"It's just like a break-up."

Sookie frowned. "I've never had a break-up." Eric was startled but from her history, he realized that this might be true. Death did not equal a break-up; they were two completely different devastations. "Can you tell me what I have to say? Or should I look for a new partner first?" he could see the panic rising in her once again.

She stared at him and he knew she had the thought – the thought that _he_ could be her partner. He wanted to shoot that notion down before she could say it out loud but he found that he couldn't, that he paused and waited for her to ask first. She didn't though. She shook her head and looked away.

"I don't want to hurt Sam," she sighed, wringing her hands together in her lap. She straightened up and put her hand on the door, ready to open it. She glanced back, staring him in the eye. "I hope you come again tomorrow morning."

He cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "I have work," he said.

"Oh," Sookie smiled shaking her head, her hair bouncing along. "I forgot." She forgot that retired ice skaters needed money too. She opened the door, wincing at the cool air. "I want to see you again, Eric. I hope you decide to come. And maybe put on your skates next time," Sookie winked. She hovered at the door a bit. Besides the freezing temperature, and her shaking legs, she waited. She rolled her eyes and smiled slightly, "Thanks for what you said. I like you. I'll put on my big girl panties next time I ask for your honest opinion. I'll see you soon?" she ended on an uncertain tone.

Eric felt his throat close up. Why did she have to bring up her panties? Maybe it was a Southern-ism. "Yeah," he found himself saying. "I'll see you the next time you practice at night."

"Oh," she said. "That'll be on Thursday." She looked sad at how far away that was.

_What the hell are you doing?_ Eric asked himself.

"Goodbye, Sookie," he said.

"Oh, right, bye!" she closed the door. He watched her stumble back to the arena, her moves ungraceful compared to on the ice, her guards flying off once and she stopped to slip her skate back into it. He smiled slightly, feeling a spread of warmth through his body from watching her.

He couldn't bring himself to drive away just yet. He found himself thinking about Sookie and skating, all swirled into one. He rubbed his eyes feeling as if he should just go home and sleep.

**"I don't know how to skate. But I know how to review."**


	3. Breakups and Contracts

**AN: I'm sorry it took so long to update. I can't promise when the next one will be just, know that I have this story planned out for quite a few chapters now and we'll see how it goes! When I'm done school on April 20th I'll have more time for this fic! Ice!Eric is very anxious to see more of Sookie, so we'll see how long before he's urging me to continue. Thanks for all your awesome reviews! **

Chapter 3

Eric was looking forward to Thursday night. His friend Alcide had noticed a change in him since he last saw him on Friday afternoon. For the following days he was distracted and twitchy about anything Alcide brought up. Something had changed in Eric Northman.

When the day of his fixation finally came, Eric had to force Sookie and skating out of his head completely so he could concentrate on work and not make any mistakes. He didn't want to seem eager so when their four hour practice started at three that afternoon, he made sure not to show up until four-thirty. He knew it was lame and hated that he was playing these games, but it made him feel better than showing up on time like Sunday.

When he entered the arena that night, he saw Sookie spinning around with Sam, who manoeuvred her into a simple lift and still couldn't seem to do that right. Immediately, his frustration toward Sam and the fact that he couldn't be on the ice overwhelmed him as he strode over to where the door was. He saw a bag that, no doubt had his skates inside. He looked up to see Sam trip on his toe pick and barrel into Sookie as she slid flat on the ice.

A fury went through Eric and he found himself grabbing the bag and sitting on the stands. He couldn't believe he was actually doing this. He kicked off his winter boots and began tying on his old skates. They fit like a glove. He remembered this feeling. His heart was hammering and his emotions were all over the place. He focused his brain on getting on that ice and showing a thing or two to Sam. None of them had noticed them yet. Eric heard Pam let out a aggravated cry and snapped at Sam. He did up his laces in record time. He stripped off his jacket and his gloves and his hat and he slid onto the ice.

Only Pam noticed him first. She looked up from Sookie who was pulling herself up onto her hands and knees, her ass in Eric's direction. His sister's face lit up and smiled evilly at him. He reached to Sam who was saying his regular apologies to Sookie, a few feet away from him.

Eric didn't want to think about what it felt like to be back on the ice. He couldn't do that, not now.

"You just tripped on your toe pick," Eric narrated, skidding right in front, ice flying onto Sam. Sookie looked behind her and saw Eric. The smile and the shiny eyes really threw him through a loop. Sam got on his knees and shakily got up.

"Does this mean you're finally going to do _hands-on_ demonstration?" Pam leered from behind him. Sookie got up onto her skates and looked at Eric brightly.

"Hi," she said.

Eric didn't address her, his eyes fixed on Sam. Sam didn't seem to like the fact that he was much smaller than Eric. He smirked delightedly at the failing pair skater. He went over to Sookie and put a hand on her waist. He held out his other hand and she took it. "Watch," he instructed a disgruntled Sam. Eric pushed off across the ice with Sookie. He concentrated on the moves, not on her and not on what it was like being where he belonged.

"What were you doing?" he asked her as they skated around.

"Split triple twist. Do you know how to do that?" she wondered softly.

His face went grim. "We'll see, won't we?" Sookie nodded, and when he saw her look of absolute trust, he wondered what foundation she was basing this off. "Now," _she_ ordered _him._ He couldn't lie that it turned him on slightly, as he complied.

Sookie launched herself with the help of her toe pick. Eric picked her up and her legs split. He tossed her in the air and he watched her, rotate three times. He remembered the rules for a well executed one and caught her by the waist, just above his head.

She landed with a smile and her leg out, moving from him, backward as he moved toward her, putting his hand back on her waist they skated over to Sam and Pam, who were gaping. Eric let go of her once they stopped.

There was a pause. "Are you kidding me?" Pam flummoxed.

The thrill of being back on the ice and executing a jump nearly perfectly on their first try, left Eric staggered. Sookie was breathless. Her face was glowing as she had her first successful lift in three months. He saw out of the corner of his eye that she was glancing between him and Sam, a decision on the horizon.

"That was flawless. Eric," Pam said exasperated. "You never seriously did pair skating and you can do that?" Her eyes were wide. "That's it, you're on the ice, whether you like it or not."

He didn't know what to say. He was exhilarated. Sookie was beaming at him, Pam was ecstatic and Sam's distaste only fuelled his passion for skating.

"Go back out there," Pam pointed. "Lift her --"

"Wait," Sam said. They all looked at him, their attention pulled away from the fantastic move they just did. He looked irritated, his fists clenching by his side. Oh, how pathetic. "Shouldn't you be _showing_ Sookie and _me_ how to do this? You're not Sookie's partner, I am."

Eric looked at his sister who was about ready to punch Sam in the balls judging from the look on her face.

"Sam," Sookie said. "Let's be calm about this, please." She moved from Eric's side and he felt robbed of her warmth. What the fuck was going on with him? He scowled at his interest in Sookie and at Sam.

Sam looked as if the horrid realization had finally settled in. "You're dumping me for this guy?"

_Oh for fuck's sake_, Eric groaned. Him and Pam exchanged looks of disbelief.

"Sam, please, let's go over to the stands and talk," she touched his arm. Sam flinched away from her and skated off. Sookie gave Eric a desperate look. All he could do was wink reassuringly at her as she skated after her soon to be ex-partner.

Pam turned to Eric. "Well, that was fucking amazing," she said. "Sookie's going to dump Sam and you're going to be her partner. My dreams have come true! I get what I want."

"I never said I'd be her partner," Eric declared immediately. Her face dropped.

"Don't be stupid, it's going to happen," she said, rolling her eyes, regaining her confidence. "You're intrigued and you love being back on the ice – I can see it. It's only a matter of time before you admit it and you're here training five hours a day every day."

He scowled and turned away. He decided to skate around the rink, perking his ears up every time he passed Sookie and Sam's hushed whispers. A couple of times he heard Sam's voice raised and he eyed the situation carefully. If Sam did anything stupid, Eric would have him on the ground in tears in a flash. Where had this gallantry come from? He hated it.

Finally he heard a crash and his head whipped around to see Sam scrambling out of the arena in his skates, even more ungracefully than when he was on the ice. Sookie was crying. He skidded to a stop and watched her arms drop uselessly to her side, defeated. She watched after Sam who was long gone by now. He zoned out staring at Sookie until she finally looked over at him. He snapped out of it and continued skating.

"I'm gonna need a minute Pam," Sookie shouted. Eric glanced over his shoulder as he saw her head to the bathroom. He sighed, wondering if it was such a good idea that he interfered. He should have left her and Sam alone. Pam had really stirred some shit up.

"This day can't get any better."

"Your skater is upset," Eric reminded her.

Pam shrugged. "She'll get over it, now we just need to work on you."

"I'm not doing it Pam."

"Then why haven't you left?"

He had nothing to say to that as he blinked his response. It was one of those moments. Shit or get off the pot. Was he really going to do this? The longer Sookie was gone, the more he wanted to leave. He skated around, trying to make a decision. He glanced over to see if Sookie was coming but as the time ticked by, he was becoming anxious.

He stopped. He looked at Pam who was texting on her phone. "I'm leaving," he said to her.

She nearly dropped her phone. "What?" she gasped. Eric skated to the stands before she could catch up. He got out and walked across the rubber pads. "Eric, get your ass back on this ice."

"No, I can't do it, Pam. I don't want to."

"That's a load of shit. Stop being a pussy and get on there!" she ordered, her voice rising. "Eric!" He had gotten his skates off and was shoving his feet into the boots.

"What's going on?"

They both looked over to see Sookie looking confused between the two of them. "I'm sorry I took so long, I – are you leaving?"

He wasn't going to be suckered into this again. No matter how upset she looked. He stood up, leaving the skates in the bag for Pam to do whatever the hell she wanted with them. "Yeah, I am leaving. Sorry, Sookie."

"What?" she balked. He didn't look back as he began to walk away. "Are you fucking kidding me?" her words stopped him for a second. "You're not going anywhere. I just asked Sam to step aside and I feel horrible about it. And now you are too?" He moved again. "ERIC!" she screamed. He felt her hand on his arm trying to whip him around. It did no good, but he did halt as she stood in front of him. "Dammit, we're good. You and me. We work. You're _not_ going to leave me. This may seem melodramatic to you, but I don't fucking care. I want this. I want you and me to work together." She poked him in the chest and he stared at the graceful creature who had the look of determination and decisiveness that he had forgotten the feeling of. "You get back on that ice and you lift me over your shoulders. Be a man!"

"Be a man?" he heard Pam chortle, but he ignored her. Her wide light blue eyes were dancing with a passion that he had so missed. He had realized that the second he saw her and her air for skating. He wanted that again. He wanted it back. He wanted to do it with her. He also, selfishly, wanted her to beg some more. He found he kinda like it.

He was going to milk this because he was a bastard. "Sookie, I want to go."

She shoved her hands against his chest as hard as she could and he stumbled back a bit. "No, you're getting on those skates, _now_." He let her turn him around and direct him back to the skates. "I will rip off your shoes and tie the skates for you, if you want you big cry baby. Go!" he looked up at her and smiled in the way he knew most girls melted at. Their eyes met and her icy stare got to his groin. Yeah, he couldn't skate around with an erection, so he found himself looking away first. What the fuck was with this woman?

As much as the thought of Sookie doing up his skates pleased him, he decided to 'be a man'. She surprised him even more when he stood up and she said:

"I want a contract."

"What?" he and Pam looked at her in astonishment.

She nodded, crossing her arms. "I'm not gonna be paranoid that anytime you have a bad day and storm off like a child, that you may never come back. I want it written in ink that you are mine and you're not allowed to leave me. I'll have my lawyer call your lawyer. I don't want any animosity between us. I want this to be good, clean fun. With of course a medal or trophy in our future. Because now, it's _us _or_ our_, there is no you and me, we are _one_." There was a definitive silence.

"That sounds fucking scary," Pam said. He could hear the smirk in his sister's voice. He felt her arm hit him. "He agrees. Let's go!"

He didn't know what else to say but he had an erection and it was on Team Stackhouse. He noticed he couldn't help but follow her onto the ice like a lovesick puppy. He also noticed, he didn't fucking care. He liked her ordering him around and telling him what to think and what he'd be doing. Normally he would have walked away from any woman who had done so before, but Sookie did it in an innocent way that had him imagining fucking her in multiple positions. He had ill intentions in that twisted head of his, so what?

He took a deep breath trying to push away the sexy thoughts. Sookie brought his arm to her waist. "Follow my lead."

"Oh yes," he said and they skated off around the rink.

**R/R!!**


	4. Spinning and Kissing

**AN: YOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'm really headachey and in the middle of exams so I can't think of anything else to say but I LOVE YOU GUYS *THIS MUCH* **

Chapter 4

"You can handle my tough love. Sam couldn't," Sookie said to Eric. "It just shows that's you're better for me than he was. I hated the coddling. I feel like a whole new woman. No!" she swatted his arm and swivelled around in front of him. "Don't do that!" She loved to talk while skating, he had discovered quickly. He hardly ever responded back.

"Sookie what is it?" Pam called across the ice.

"Eric, don't be afraid to touch me," Sookie said. "Its fine, Pam!" she shouted back. "Pretend I'm one of your drunken conquests if it makes it easier for you to touch me. Ha, sorry. You can probably get any girl but something tells me you like the easy kind." Obviously his cock preferred the dominant kind. He raised a brow at her. He'd have to introduce her to his erection because it was becoming a common occurrence for the past two weeks. She hadn't yet noticed how he was often sporting one around her. Or perhaps she ignored it.

To his shock she smacked his crotch. He jolted, letting out a moan and blinked the tears from his eyes. "You think you're the first skater to get wood with his partner?" she giggled. She could look so innocent and yet he discovered she had a personality that was the complete opposite to the one she portrayed to strangers. She was the _good girl_. He had a feeling that she was hardly sugar, spice and everything nice, particularly after that very blatant display. Definitely more spice than her public image would allow.

"Let's just do it."

"Will you be able to?" she asked doubtfully, a smug smirk on her lips.

"I've been doing it for two weeks now. You've made no complaints so far," he whispered huskily in her ear, turning behind her, both hands on her hip as he jerked her into his chest. She let out a small gasp. "I'm very...big," he confided in her ear. "Many might say _too_ big. I have to prove to the judges that I can be just as skilled as a small man."

She turned her head and looked at him. "You have to convince _me_ that you know how to handle your size, not the judges. Move," she tapped his skate with her own and sped off, just when he was about to lean in and kiss without thinking about it.

"Triple slachow!" Eric vaguely heard Pam cry out. His entire focus was Sookie. He found he wanted nothing more than for her to execute a great performance, with his help. To him she was the star, this was for her. He couldn't care less about judges or commentators he just cared about Sookie. It was disarming and annoying to admit.

They skated with his one hand on her waist and the other clasped high up with hers. He spun them around and then helped launch Sookie in the air. She pulled her arms in and rotated three times in the air before landing safely on the ice, smiling a few feet away from him. He moved back to her bringing her to his body once again. He felt alive, on fire, tingling – all those stupid little clichés you use when you have an attraction to someone – when he was with her.

"Eric, you're going to be late for work," Pam said. Eric looked at his watch and saw that it was indeed, past seven. He let go of Sookie abruptly and made it to the door in record time. "Remember we have to practice at the public rink tonight because you haven't quit your job yet!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Eric shouted, pulling his skates off, as fast as he could. He saw Sookie continue her skate around, her head constantly turning in his direction. He felt it. She felt it. They wanted to fuck.

"This would be so much more convenient if you could commit to five hours every day, instead of us having to split the time from early in the morning to late at night. It's ruining our day. Sookie agrees."

"I already have him on contract," the angel on skates said. "He _has_ to show up every day, it doesn't matter to me if he wants to interrupt it with carpentry as long as I get him to myself for five hours." Why did his mind immediately imagine them doing something else besides skating for those five hours?

"I'm all yours," he said standing up and waving to her.

"I'd like you to say that to me without the threat of a lawsuit someday," she smiled back sweetly, her words reaching his dick. He left the arena and headed to his car, anxious for his day at work to be over quickly so he could see her again later.

***

Starting your day with Sookie Stackhouse and ending it with her, was bittersweet. Bitter because she could be a real hard-ass; sweet because she had a delectable body that made him want to sink his teeth into every bit of soft flesh.

Christmas music played from the speakers on the chilly late November night. This was not a very smart idea, squished between all the families and friends ice skating for fun.

"This isn't going to work," he said to Pam who decided not to join them on the ice.

"Skating is skating," Sookie said firmly. Pam nodded in agreement. Rolling his eyes, he put his hands on Sookie's waist. He memorized the curve, the size, the feel – he was practically drooling. He had to concentrate because having an erection in front of all these little kids would be beyond creepy. "I'm not giving up my five hour practices just because you have a job."

"Fine," he said shortly. "I hope you trip over a kid and feel bad," he found himself saying, quite immaturely.

She glared at him and he started off without her, letting his hands drop from her waist, he weaved in and beyond the slower skaters. He skated backward, carefully avoiding people as he watched her catch up with them. A little kid quickly weaved in an out of the crowed, passing close by Sookie's feet almost tripping her up. Eric found himself greatly amused by the disgruntled look on Sookie's face when she reached him.

"You better watch out yourself. Don't be too cocky now."

"I'm all cock."

"So you say," she said through her teeth. He saw the flash in her eye and it thrilled him. He felt the desire to hold her, a frequent need that scared him often.

He turned around facing forward and skate by her side putting a hand on her waist. "This is nice. It's about all we can do." Sookie didn't say anything. But all they did do was skate around. She didn't push his hand away either.

When they passed Pam for the fifth time she said. "Are you two going to do anything?"

"Like what?" Eric asked. They had to skate all the way around to hear Pam's answer.

"Give a free show!" Pam said, rolling her eyes. She sat down on a bench and just started to text on her phone. "If you're going to skate around all night, I'm leaving."

"As nice as this is," Sookie finally spoke. "She's right. We should do something."

Eric actually quite enjoyed the quiet moment with Sookie. "Like what?" he asked her, at a loss of what they could do with all these people. Unfortunately, she broke from him to the middle of the outdoor rink, which was relatively sparse of people.

She began to spin, her leg out, low to the ground, her arm stretched and grabbing the top her of blade leg stretched out straight. People stepped away and watched her. Eric was captivated by her forwardness for a moment before he went to her side, mimicking. He watched her stand up and he did the same, her leg high up, close to her chest, rotating, rotating.

"Now," he heard her say and they both kicked their legs out, halting the spins and skating backward as people let them through. She skated into his arms and he held her hands out as they moved fluidly backward. He brought his hands down and scooped Sookie by her ass and held her over his head with two hands at first and then one. She then bent over and wound her legs around his head. He swung her down back on the ice and they halted, holding their hands out for the people who instantly cheered. Sookie smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek, her lips burning into his skin. He felt the jolt, he wondered if she did too.

They skated over to Pam who had her arms crossed with an eyebrow raised. "That was very sweet, you two," she didn't have time to say anymore as quite a few young skaters went over to Eric and Sookie to ask questions, enthusiastically in awe.

After quite a while of them indulging the people with answers, Pam informed them that she would be leaving. Slowly, as the night grew later, Eric and Sookie were one of the few left on the rink as it began to close up by ten.

"Will you accompany me one last time on the rink?" Sookie beamed, looking happier than he had ever seen her. He held out his hand and she took it. "I'm glad you succumbed to my threat," she said absently, watching him carefully.

Eric's lips thinned as he wondered if he was glad for the same reasons as her. "I couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else."

"I know," she said, then rolled her eyes, the pink in her cheeks brightening. "I mean, I know you weren't ever going to come back. I'm glad you did, for whatever motive it was."

Eric paused. "_You_ were the motive. Then the ice."

Sookie bit her lower lip. "Do you not...miss it or like it anymore?"

The speaker requested that they get off the ice. They were the last ones on. They made their way over to where their bags were, on a bench. They sat down and began to remove their skates. Wordlessly, they put on their winter boots. They stood up and realized they had no idea how to say goodbye.

Eric cleared his throat, looking away. "Do you need a ride home?"

"Um," she hesitated. "Yeah, thanks." Suddenly it had gotten awkward. They didn't have the ice as a buffer, he reasoned. He found himself opening the car door for her and she got in muttering a "Thanks." Once they were seated he warmed up the car by putting the heat on full blast.

"Where do you live?" he asked, waiting for the engine to warm up in this temperature.

She looked reluctant to tell him. Eric wondered what he could possibly do with this information that had her so worried. "Do you know King street?" she asked him. He nodded, realizing that wasn't too far from his place.

"King and what?" he asked moving the car out of the parking lot.

"Ossington," she said softly.

The drive was turning out to be a silent one. He didn't want to misread signs but the tension felt...sexual. He glanced at Sookie who quickly looked away from him. He tried not to look too smug. The girl who had been dishing it out to him for two weeks suddenly returned to the shy quiet girl who cornered him in his car to talk about Sam. Was she uncomfortable when it was just the two of them?

She relayed her address to him when they got close to her place. He pulled up outside of an apartment building.

"Eric," she said. He watched her carefully. "I want us to be friends _off _the ice. I think it will be a lot better if we have a stronger relationship. It'll build with the chemistry and soon we'll get to know the other's thoughts before we speak and we'll be able to tell when the other is moving before we actually do. It'd be good for our performance and our...tolerance for one another."

"Hmm," he murmured, moving closer to her. He watched her stiffen and her neck bob slightly as she swallowed nervously. "What about kissing?"

"Kissing?" she tried to keep calm, but he heard her squeak. "No kissing. This is platonic. I don't want us to break-up," she said. He moved his hand into her hair and he was pleased to see that she didn't pull away. She was very still as she watched him, his other hand resting on her cheek, softly brushing his thumb under her eye. "Don't kiss me, Eric Northman," she said shakily. "I mean it. This is not what I had in mind –"

He cut off her speech with their mouths moving against one another. Her soft, firm lips opened involuntarily, shocked. He pushed his urging for a response. She let out a noise that went straight to his cock as he pulled her closer, her warm mouth, taking the initiative as she sank into the kiss, her small hand gripping his jacket. It was awkward given the angle and the layers of clothes but it was also completely sweet. He traced his tongue along her lips and she parted her teeth, so he slipped his tongue to meet hers. He was surprised when she pulled back and nibbled his lower lip, eliciting a noise from the back of his throat. He gripped her tighter, the urgency in the air vibrating with want as her hand found his neck, gently massaging it. She was very good at this. He groaned when her other hand rested on his thigh, so close, yet so far away from his erection.

Their arousal was high as their passion quickened and he felt Sookie's hand dip past his jacket, further down his neck, a shiver running down his spine. He grabbed her forcefully and really wished he bought a bigger car so they could make-out comfortably. Her nails dragged across his skin and he groaned audibly, pushing his tongue further into her mouth the warmth jolting to his cock and his head foggy of anything but Sookie. He wished he could feel her breasts which always looked perfect, through her coat, but that would require removing it and it could scare her off. He moved himself to maybe incline his seat back and have her straddle him, which she quickly agreed to.

Neither one of them wanted to break the kiss, forcing them to move blindly until Sookie accidentally hit the horn. The loud noise caused her to jerk upward hitting her head on the ceiling, and falling back into her seat, no longer moving on top of him. He had been craving for her legs to be on either side of him so bad that he was itching to _beg_ her to return to their initial plan. She was breathing heavily and Eric tried to remember the last time they took a breather. She put a hand over her eyes, looking freaked out.

"Oh, that was stupid," she muttered.

"Why?" he asked, or more likely, his dick. His dick was very frustrated and very curious as to why what they were doing was stupid. The throbbing member thought it was a fantastic idea.

She sighed and looked over at him. The light from the street lamp shone into the car, and he saw her face was still flushed, the snow falling outside giving a lovely backdrop to Sookie Stackhouse's frazzled hair and puffy lips. He imagined them around his cock...

"Eric, this is not a good idea."

"It's an excellent idea."

She let out a noise of irritation. "If you agreed to be my partner for the sole reason of getting in my pants than I'll castrate you," she growled, the fire she inhabited on the ice entering her esteem. He noted she was getting more comfortable with him off the ice, and much faster than he would have liked: it was easier to manipulate her into a make-out session when she was nervous. It was an asshole thing to do, but he couldn't explain that to his constant erection logically.

"I was raised on the ice, Sookie," he found himself saying. "Inside your pants wasn't the initial appeal," he raised his eyebrows at her suggestively.

She closed her eyes and looked away. "I think...we should focus on skating. At least at first," she said the end hastily. "You're an asshole, but I like you." He smiled knowingly.

"I like _you_, Sookie," he deepened his voice and watched her lower lip quiver, her mouth parting begging for another kiss. "Can I kiss you again?"

She glared at him, an inner battle raging behind the dance of her eyes. "Fine," she said snippily, before smiling and leaning forward. There was something there, as soon as their lips touched. Neither one of them could deny it. She moaned into his mouth, her hands in his hair, gripping it, pulling him closer.

It was a long time before Sookie left the car and was safe in her apartment.

**UH OH. WHAT'S A GONNA HAPPEN NEXT-A!? *dances on out* *pops back in* I literally almost forgot to suggest clicking that Eric-y coloured Review button. **


	5. Rejection and Quitting

**AN: Phew. It's been a while. I'm juggling three stories guys. I'm working on them all, but soon it will be two and hopefully I'll get this updated soon. So here is the next installment of our stubborn skaters. **

**Thanks to my beta elbly who is my lovely bot!**

**P.S: She hated Sookie this chapter, so UM, HERE'S A WARNING! TA!  
**

Chapter 5: Rejection and Quitting

Eric walked into the arena that morning with the biggest smile. He had replayed his time with Sookie in that car over and over all night – in the shower, in his dreams, in his bed. He imagined having her in a more comfortable position then in the confined car. He didn't need his mind wandering so early in the morning. He cleared his throat.

As usual Sookie was there first. He leaned against the board, watching her. She hadn't noticed him yet. He knew he had the stupidest grin on his face, but he couldn't help it. When she finally saw him, she looked away, her pink cheeks darkening as she skated over to him, throwing her arms around his neck. He smirked into the kiss and put his arms around her waist, lifting her up, the board between their bodies, she squealed against his mouth. He put her back down and she was winded.

"Hi," she touched his morning stubble. "Scratchy."

"Didn't feel like shaving," he said, putting his elbows on the ledge, looking up at her. "How's my girl?"

She straightened slightly. "Woman. I'm a woman."

"Yeah you are," he said suggestively, letting his eyes wander. She slapped his shoulder playfully.

"How are my little skaters this morning?" Pam said jovially, striding from the doors with donuts and coffee. Sookie put a distance between her and Eric. "Get your skates on, Eric," Pam scolded. He winked at Sookie who looked over at the donuts and he sat down in the stands taking the guards off the skates and lacing them up.

He soon joined Sookie on the ice. He wanted to kiss her on the ice. He had the imagery of fucking her on the ice.

He immediately put his hands on her waist. She was stiff, nervous.

"Whoa, wait, what are you doing?" Pam called out. They parted instantly as if they had been caught doing something completely inappropriate.

"What?" Sookie asked. Her voice was high. They looked at Pam who had her hand on her hip giving them an odd look. Her eyes shifted between the two guilty expressions.

"Nothing," she said softly. "Carry on." He saw the look his sister had and he didn't like it. Pam leaned against the board, gazing thoughtfully.

He went back over to Sookie. "Be cool. She can't know."

"Why not?" Sookie hissed. "She's our coach. We can't keep this from her."

"Not yet," he said through his teeth. He heard Sookie give a huff of annoyance and he pushed her along the ice. She wasn't very responsive. And it was...awkward. They were fine with making-out in private, but now, in front of Pam, she was nervous.

He went to pull her out for a dip between his legs when she locked up and they bumped into each other, tripping over their toe picks.

There was a defining silence once they composed themselves, only the light droning hum of the air conditioning motor and the distant sound of a metal door closing.

"So," Pam's voice carried across the ice. Eric saw Sookie throw a glare his way. He rolled his eyes. "You guys fucked last night."

"What?!" Sookie shrieked. "No! We most certainly did not!" She put her hands on her hips and looked absolutely adorable. Eric wanted to kiss her again.

Pam raised her eyebrows. "Good. Don't."

Eric had issue with _that_. "Excuse me?" he said. "You can't tell us what to do off the ice."

"I can when it's compromising what we have. What _you_ have," Pam's eyes flashed and she opened the door, walking on the ice in her boots. She was giving them disapproving looks. Eric snorted turning to Sookie and his world stopped. She was teasing her lower lip between her teeth, her toe pick digging into the ice. Dread shadowed his happy buzz. "What if you break up?" Pam hedged. He saw Sookie look down, looking ashamed. He wanted to yell at Pam to shut up, to tell Sookie that she was stupid, that, they had great chemistry on and off the ice; they couldn't just throw it away."Are you willing to do that to your career?"

Eric was shocked when Sookie blurted out, "No!" He looked at her incredulously. Was she serious? "No," she said quietened. "It just...happened. I'm fully committed to us as skating partners," she turned to him. Her eyes wide with fear at what their relationship could mean. She moved closer to him. "I want us to be excellent. We can. Professionally. As friends. Not as lovers."

He was speechless. Getting rejected in front of his sister was not something he cared for.

"Do you understand, Eric?" she begged him. "I..." she trailed off. "It wasn't a good idea, last night."

He decided to play it cool, despite the fact that he was pissed off. "But it _was_ good."

He watched her cheeks brighten. "That's not what I meant, and you know it." They were whispering to one another, leaving Pam out of it.

"I don't know what you mean then, Sookie," he said, watching her blue eyes dart in panic.

"Don't be mad. I'm sorry. We shouldn't have kissed," she put a hand on his arm. "Look, you know this is important to me. We can be friends. We can go to the movies, hang out, I don't know. But we won't do kissing, and we'll date other people. It'll work."

"Being friends didn't work with Bill," he said. She flinched, a low blow.

"It didn't. Bill and I – our dynamic changed when we started dating and I regret it a little bit," she raised her chin, defiantly. "I'm not backing out on you and me. We have a good thing going, we don't need to be boyfriend and girlfriend." Eric wondered when she ever got the impression that he'd be her boyfriend, but decided to let that slide. "So, let's just get on that ice and do the best we can – which I think, is going to get us gold. We're excellent. We don't need to kiss to mean something to one another. I depend on you and if you..." She poked his chest roughly, her shyness suddenly turning into the feisty nature she acquired when talking about her career. "If you mess this up with jealousy, immaturity or anything else, I will consider killing you. At the very least, I'll toe pick you in the balls. Understood?"

He balked at her. He didn't know how to respond to that. He cursed his sister, he hated Sookie's determination to _not_ fuck him, he hated that he would really have to commit to pair skating without the promise of sex...

"Understood," he said through clenched teeth.

She smacked him on the chest. "Don't be mad at me either. We can start our new friendship by going to," she paused briefly to think, "laser tag. Friday night."

He blinked at her in disbelief. "You want me to spend my Friday night playing laser tag?"

A small smirk reached her lips. "Or we can go go-karting. I tried to pick something that was manly. Shooting and racing seemed good, right?"

He didn't respond. She just skated back to Pam announcing that she was ready to practice and so was Eric, even though he said no such thing. He wanted to go to the bar, find an easy woman and fuck his frustration out on her. Instead he was here touching the girl he wanted without actually _touching_ her.

He followed her into the routine.

***

As he walked back to his car five hours later after practice, trudging through the freshly fallen snow, he was surprised when he heard Sookie calling for him. She was bundled up just like she had been last night.

"I want to talk to you without Pam around," she said. She looked at him warily. "You're mad."

"Fuck yes," he said, turning back on her and opening his car door. She pushed it closed. He let out a huff, his breath visible in the cool air. He turned to her, crossing his arms and leaning, expectantly. "What do you want to say, Sookie?"

"I meant what I said in there, I want you to know."

"Thanks."

"We're better off as friends in the long run. We have to have a completely different relationship – I won't have this be like what I had with Bill. I...didn't like it."

He watched her look almost guilty at that revelation. "I'm not Bill," he reiterated.

Her cheeks blushed. "You're _definitely_ not." He didn't know how to take that, whether if it was good or bad that he wasn't like Bill.

"As great as these conversations are with you, Sookie," he said irritably. "And believe me, I would love to hear you yak away as if I give a damn. I'd appreciate it if you and I cut the shit. I want to fuck you, but obviously having me between your legs, _pounding_," he leaned in to her, she took a step back, surprised. He couldn't believe he was doing this, but he was angry. "Into your virginal cunt," she flinched, "is the last thing on your mind. So I'll stay away. I'll be your friend. I'll braid you a bracelet if you fucking want. I don't have much choice since I'm contractually obliged, now."

Her eyes flashed. "I knew you did this to get in my pants. So what if I used it to my advantage? You're talented. We're good together. I think we can be better if we're friends, but if you want to be a vulgar asshole than that's your prerogative."

"Damn right it is," he growled.

"Fine," she snapped. "Bye," she turned on her heel, seemingly walking back to her house or to the bus, he didn't fucking care. He slammed himself into his car and drove off, slowing down past her as he reached the stop sign. He watched her turn to him, glare and stick up the middle finger. He shook his head hoping that when he swerved the corner, some slush hit her.

Instead of heading home, he found himself driving to Alcide's; his friend who had his own construction business, and was his boss as well. He stopped in front, on the Sunday afternoon, knowing he was in there with his girlfriend having a lame movie day or something. He knocked on the door rapidly.

Right, the rest of the world wasn't up at five, and skating until ten. Alcide looked as if he just woke up.

"I quit," Eric said as soon as he saw his friend's face.

"What?" Alcide yawned, rubbing his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Eric didn't bother to walk into the house when Alcide opened his arms for him to enter. "I quit. I'm not your employee anymore."

"Does this have to do with you getting back into skating?" Alcide asked. He had laughed at him last week when he revealed to him that he was doing the circus all over again. He had tried to explain Sookie to him, but Alcide had just shook his head in disbelief at the lengths he was going to fuck one girl.

"I'm done. I'm not going to juggle two jobs – Sookie is proving to be a full-time one," he growled at his frustrating partner.

Alcide raised his eyebrows. "Did you fuck her?"

"Nope, that's not happening," Eric revealed, his anger becoming unbearable. He wanted to smash the snowman across the street. "Ever."

"Oh," Alcide put a hand to the back of his neck. "That's rough, I guess."

Eric paced on his friend's front porch, just relaxing his mind, no thinking.

"Are you sure about quitting?"

"Yes," Eric said. "Sookie's demanding my undivided attention. Dammit, I'm going to give it to her."

"Without sex..."

"Without sex," he confirmed. He had no explanation for himself or for Alcide. "I'm going to go," he said waving off as Alcide called out a farewell in confusion.

He threw himself back into his car. He hated how it was reminding him of last night when he and Sookie were pawing at each other like teenagers. He put his head to the steering wheel when he heard a tap on the window. He jumped to see Sookie staring at him with a condescending look on her face. He rolled down the window.

"You followed me?" he asked as he wondered how she got there. It wasn't far from the rink, but still...

"I know who you work for. I know where he lives."

"How?" Eric asked, feeling suspicious.

"I'm friends with his girlfriend," she rolled her eyes. Huh, Alcide never mentioned.

"Okay, then what is it," Eric was not in the mood for more bitching.

"About our friend-date. Laser tag or go-karting?"

"Seriously...now?" he snapped, glaring at her.

"I like to plan ahead. I need to put it in my day planner, the fact that I've restrained from doing so for five hours now is like a personal record," she said firmly. His eyes widened in disbelief as she put her bag down in the middle of the deserted snow covered street and rifled through, ignoring her skates. She pulled out a thick small binder and she flicked through the pages, biting off her glove. "Hold this," she tossed it through the window on his lap. It was too cold to be doing this outside. He clenched his teeth in annoyance as he watched her click her pen and scraped at the margins for it to warm up and write. "So," she said, when she had got her pen working. "Which one is it?"

Eric rubbed his forehead with his glove. "I don't care, you pick." She smiled delightedly.

"Great. Go-karting," she informed him writing it down. He watched her click the pen and close the book. "Thanks." She packed up her bag and leaned through the window grabbing her glove that was perfectly placed over his cock. If he wasn't so pissed he might have thrilled at the closeness. "I'm going to go see Maria now," she pointed over her shoulder back at Alcide's house. "We're going shopping."

"I don't care," he said again, revving the engine, warming up the car. He rolled up the window.

"Yeah you do," she smiled turning on her heel and heading up the porch knocking on the door. When Alcide opened it and saw Sookie wave at me, I think he put the two together and realized who the frustrating skater was. He could be so unobservant. How could he have a conversation with Sookie and she _never_ brought up her skating obsession. How could he not even have an alert at the name – it wasn't exactly common. In fact, it was fucking ridiculous. He backed out of the snow bank he lodged himself into, in his haste and drove back home.

At that moment, he was dreading seeing Sookie again early tomorrow morning. Fuck.

**Review, my papooses. **


	6. Birthdays and Drunkards

**AN: Gah! I'm absolutely awful to make you guys wait so long for the next chatper! Especially when you review the story! I write the story, you review and I took like 12 days to update! Shame! **

**Thanks for all you reviews, I love every last one to bits and pieces!**

**Thanks to elbly for beta'ing, she rocks my socks.  
**

Chapter 6: Birthdays and Drunkards 

Eric opened his mailbox the next day after returning from a tense practice, where he hardly spoke to Sookie. Pam had been practically peeing with excitement over the new tension that she insisted was very sexually charged. Eric refused to admit Sookie was right, but he had been glaring at her more than he had possibly ever glared at anyone before. And now, _this?_ He walked into his house angrily, tossing the bills on the coffee table. He sat down on his couch and turned on the television, ripping open the envelope.

Fuck her.

Who the hell sends invitations in the mail anymore? _Please come to Sookie's twenty-first birthday_. He threw it aside and turned to the television.

Once again she had succeeded in frustrating the hell out of him and she wasn't even here. Forced to work with this woman for four years. He groaned at the thought. He had signed a contract until after the Olympics in three years and four months time. They were competing in the World championship the next January and doing multiple other competitions until then. Their first one would be in March.

As if on cue, Sookie called his phone. He picked it up, putting it to his ear, not willing to say a word.

"God, you breathe loudly," she said. "I know this morning was awkward, even though Pam practically came in her pants..." he couldn't help the small smile on his lips at that and was thankful for the phone to keep her in the dark about his amusement. "But I think it would be best if we continued to work amicably and effectively to reach our common goal."

"My eventual goal was for us to fuck."

"Well, now you have a realistic goal. We can be champions."

He found himself chuckling. "You act so young."

There was a long pause on the other end. "Patronizing is an unattractive quality, Eric. I believe in us and soon you will too. Now, my friend has been bugging me to invite you to my birthday, I thought you would refuse but I sent you an invitation anyway..." she trailed off.

"I just got it. It pissed me off."

"I thought it would," she said, her voice softening.

"Who sends invitations anymore?"

"A good hand-written invite and a simple box to check if you are attending or not is elegant and precise."

"You grew up in a small-town in the South," he bit. "I'm imagining a trailer. What's with this fancy shit?"

He regretted it instantly. "You don't have to be mean about it," she mumbled. "I always liked the idea – and I did not grow up in a trailer. I grew up in a farmhouse. But, I have to admit that's a safe assumption...Sam lives in one." He could have sworn he heard the smile in her voice, the tone that was allowing a joke to be made. He was thrown off.

"He certainly moves like he had been cramped in a trailer his whole life," he amended. He heard Sookie laugh and soon they both were. He laughed so hard that tears were in his eyes as he lay down on the couch enjoying this moment with Sookie, her sounds of hilarity making the laughing last longer, he couldn't stop.

"That was rude," she finally calmed. "Sam has always been nice to me. I still feel bad about the break-up."

He found himself nodding, even though she couldn't see him. He played with the bottom of his shirt and found his hand dipping past his jeans waist band.

"Well," she interrupted his considering. He pulled his hand out and laid it flat on his stomach. "I hope we're okay now."

He wondered how this would turn out. Could they make it work? "What do you want for your birthday?" was all he could come up with.

"You don't have to get me anything, Eric –" she said, almost shyly. "Although, you could wrap yourself in a bow with a smile. That'd be nice."

"I could pop out of a cake for you."

He heard her chuckle. "Goodbye, Eric. I'll see you tomorrow." Ha, she ended _that_ quickly, he thought smugly.

"Goodbye, Sookie. Take a shower. Wash off our sweaty practice. I hope you think of me," he found his voice lowering like it did when he was being suggestive to women.

He heard her clear her throat. "Bye," she squeaked and hung up the phone. He smiled, feeling satisfied with how that turned out. He, soon, fell asleep shortly after her call, his hand half in his pants.

* * *

Eric was heading over to Sookie's party with Alcide and his girlfriend Maria-Star. Pam said she would show up later with her new date. It was about a week until Christmas and he knew Sookie would be returning home for a few days, so he'd have a break from her and skating, which seemed heavenly at the moment. He wasn't sure how to dress so he wore a black suit with a white button-up and no tie, leaving a few buttons undone.

They pulled up to a massive mansion and he wondered what the hell kind of friend Sookie had. He gave Alcide a bemused expression and he returned it.

"It's her friend Amelia. Her dad's loaded," Maria explained, exiting the car. They followed up the circular drive past all the other cars and to the massive entrance where the door was opened by a butler. He looked around and saw gaggles of girls chatting and laughing. Where were all the guys? Not that he minded. He handed his black coat to the butler and went further into the house, checking out all the girls who were in short dresses and high heels.

"Don't be mean, Eric," Maria hissed.

"How?" he asked, winking at a blond who caught his eye.

"This is Sookie's party," she reminded him, sidling up beside him. "She didn't invite you to gawk at her friends."

Eric gave her and incredulous look. "We're friends. Me and her. I can date, she can date. Where are all the guys?" He caught a few swarmed by girls.

"Probably in another part of the house, it's very big."

"No kidding," Alcide scoffed.

She grabbed his sleeve and dragged him past the foyer and further into the house. In the living room there were a lot more guys, but mostly this house was full of girls. Eric didn't mind, there were plenty to go around...

"Eric, Maria, Alcide – hey! Thanks for coming!" He turned around to see Sookie hurrying over to him. He caught a couple guys watch her ass as she hustled by. She stopped in front and held his arms as she pulled him down slightly so she could kiss his cheek and then Maria and Alcide. He had just seen her this morning, so why was she so happy to see him? "I thought you wouldn't show up, you didn't mention it at all this morning," she said to him.

"Neither did you."

"I didn't want to put any pressure on you," she emphasized. Her real birthday had been yesterday and he had wished her a happy one then.

"You going to be hung-over tomorrow?" he asked her with a smirk.

She shook her head. "No, I'm not a big drinker."

"Good. I'd hate to deal with you vomiting every time I lift you," he said. She rolled her eyes.

"That won't happen," she gave him a shy look and he wondered what the hell that was about.

"Alright, then," he put his hand in his pocket. "You return to your guests. I'll be around," he gave her a final, odd look, before making his way to the liquor. He got himself a drink and entered the foyer where he saw that blond when he first entered.

Her head whipped around when he came toward her, a slow smile playing her lips. "I wondered if you'd find me," she turned from her friends who eyed him appreciatively. She was rather tall, he didn't have to look down as he did with Sookie.

"What's your name?" he asked her, cocking an eyebrow. She held out her hand and he shook it, giving it suggestive squeeze.

"Yvetta," she lowered her voice and he already had the visual of fucking.

"Eric," he said.

It was getting late and he hadn't seen Sookie since he arrived. He headed upstairs to a free washroom, passing two people fucking in a room with the door open. He closed it for them. He was about to leave the party with Yvetta when Sookie came up a completely different staircase he hadn't seen. She was wobbly on her feet as she called his attention.

"How's the birthday girl?" he asked her, smiling through his desperate need to piss. She staggered over to him. "I thought you didn't drink."

She laughed slightly and he held onto her arm to steady her. "I'm twenty one," she announced.

"You certainly are," he mumbled. He didn't like seeing Sookie this way.

"Are you drunk?" she asked, leaning into his body. He felt her breasts pressed up against his chest and he backed up a bit, right into the wall and knocked a picture askew.

"I'm big, it takes a lot for me," he said, feeling slightly nervous. "Look, Sookie, I gotta go to the bathroom and then I'm heading out. Great party." He patted her shoulder awkwardly.

"Are you leaving with Yvetta?" her arms wrapped around his waist, pulling her closer to his body. He stilled, wondering what the hell Sookie thought she was doing.

"You're drunk and you've forgotten the deal we made. I'm not going back on it now," he said firmly, even though the image of them fucking was in his head, he wouldn't do it. Right? "Sookie. Goodnight," he carefully grabbed her arms and pulled them from his waist. He saw her face fall, her eyes out of focus.

"You don't want me?" she slurred.

He laughed slightly. "You are so fucking drunk, and you're playing games with me. Look, I'll hold your hair tomorrow morning but you have to wake up in three hours for practice. Sleep it off," he said. "Are you staying here?" She nodded weakly. "Where?" She lazily pointed at the door next to the bathroom. "Perfect." He put his hands on her shoulder and turned her toward her room.

"I shouldn't have seen you. I should have let you just go to Yvetta," she murmured, hardly making any sense.

"Mmhmm," he led her to the bed and she sat down, trying to kick off her heels. He got on his knee and did it for her. As she flopped back, her dress rode up and he saw her black panties. He looked away and pulled back the covers. "I'm setting your alarm," he told her as she nestled into the pillows. He did so and was about to leave when she called out after me.

"Are you going to have a quickie and then see me on the ice?" she complained.

"Goodnight, Sookie." Eric turned off the light and closed the door.

As he walked out into the hall a loud guy who couldn't hold his liquor came stumbling up the stairs with a girl who could barely stand up straight.

"So I said to her," his voice was deafening and obnoxious. "If you can't take all of this, I don't want to put my junk in your trunk." The woman leaned against the rail, barely smiling.

"Hey," Eric said. "Could you keep it down?" he looked the guy over. He didn't seem pleased that his story was interrupted.

"Who the fuck are you?" He saw the girl stumble toward the door that Sookie was behind.

"Get the fuck away from the door," Eric snapped.

"Oh," the guy said. "Who's in there? Your girlfriend?" he taunted. God, Eric thought, drunk people are fucking idiots.

"If you go near the door, either of you, you'll regret it. Go downstairs, shut your mouth and don't take advantage of the drunken girl. If you do," Eric pointed at the woman who had just slid to the floor. "She'll end up barfing on you. Believe me." He stood his ground, not leaving until the guy left. The woman had already slumped into a sleep. The guy scowled and tripped down the stairs.

Eric sighed and went back downstairs to find Yvetta.

* * *

"I saw you leave with that tall blond sex on legs," Pam said. Eric looked at her.

"Do you want her?" he asked dryly. Sookie was late. Not that he could blame her. It was just weird. Pam was always the last one here. She raised a brow. "I'll give you her number after practice."

"If Sookie even shows up," Pam looked irritated. "Girl can't hold her liquor."

There was a loud slam of the door and they looked off to see Sookie hurrying over to them, even though she looked a bit green in the face.

"How are you feeling?" Pam asked, giving her star the once over. Sookie sat down and began to lace up her skates.

"Awful. Thanks for asking."

"Need me to hold your hair back?" Eric grinned.

"I'm not cleaning it," Pam muttered.

Sookie groaned. "Let's not talk about it...okay?" She blushed slightly as she got onto the ice. "Let's get this started."

Like Eric predicted, he carefully lifted her over his head their hands clasped while he held her up, her legs split in the air as he turned them she cried out, "Put me down!" He did so swiftly and she skated to the board and vomited over the edge. The sound of her puking filled the stadium. Pam was scowling and Eric found himself looking up at the rafters a decision already made.

"No practice today, Pam," he said to his sister.

"What? You're not the coach. Sookie, take a minute..."

"No." Eric said firmly. He skated over to Sookie and put a hand on her back. Luckily her hair was up in a bun as if she predicted this would happen. She finally lifted herself up, groaning. "Okay. I'm taking you home," he told her. She nodded weakly and wiped her mouth. Pam looked beyond pissed off when he passed her. They sat on the bleachers and slowly took off their skates. He gave a warning look at Pam who had opened her mouth several times to interrupt. He lead Sookie outside to his car. "How do you get here each day?"

"Subway, bus," she said, pulling her hat over her ears. "Ugh, I feel awful. This is why I don't drink."

"Really?" he asked. "And here's me thinking it was because you were a bit easy when inebriated."

"What?" she asked, glaring at him. He shrugged, unable to hide the smile. "What did I do? I remember seeing you in the hall, but it's still a bit blurry. If what I think happened happened, then I am officially embarrassed."

He wished he could tease her for a good while, but knew that wasn't fair. "Forget it, Sookie," he said. "I have, it was no big deal." He didn't look at her, but the air between them stiffened. He opened the passenger door for her and she slipped in. When he got in on the other side he said. "Try and avoid vomiting in here please."

She nodded, numbly. "I'm sorry I...came onto you last night."

Eric shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Leftover feelings."

"I was jealous."

"Sookie. You don't have to explain it to me." He remembered where she lived. He drove through the streets, south, toward the lake where her apartment was.

"I don't want to know if you slept with Yvetta."

"Are you a martyr? Please stop," he urged. "I get it. It's done. Let's move on."

"Oh," she whispered. "Yeah. Okay." He hadn't looked at her at all, and wasn't planning to anyway, even though he felt a desperate desire to do so. He pulled up in front of her building. He was reminded of their make-out here, that night, a few weeks ago. Now it was still dark, at only quarter to six in the morning and it was snowing just like it had then. Except Sookie was sick and Eric had no intention of kissing her. "Thanks. Goodbye." She hesitated before opening the door.

"Happy birthday," he said, giving her a genuine smile. "Get better. Tomorrow we practice." She looked startled at him and changed her expression.

"Right. You better be on time," she said, returning to her usual personality, even if she was looking clammy.

"Don't worry, Sookie." He watched her head into her apartment to make sure she was inside safe before driving off.

**R/R!!**


	7. Secrets and Jealousy

**AN: This chapter is SUPER short because it did better as alone than meshed with chapter eight, which is already with the beta - it should be up soon! Thanks for all the review love, I LOVE YOU GUYS SO FUCKING MUCH! MWAH!**

**thanks to the beta work of elbly!  
**

Chapter 7: Secrets and Jealousy

On a November night, almost a year to the day that Eric walked into that arena and met Sookie, he found himself reflecting on how the year had panned out. He thought to mention to Sookie tomorrow about how it had been a year since they met and it was sort of like their anniversary. Shaking his head at how lame he was, he entered the bar greeting Alcide and a few of their other friends, Charles and Chow. Eric was hoping to get a girl tonight as he looked around at the potentials.

"So, Eric," Charles piped up. Eric looked over at the man expectantly. "You know how Indira broke up with me last month."

"Yes, Charles, I remember," he said dryly. He remembered being alarmed by the heaving sobs from the grown man in the middle of the streets after a drunken stumble out of the bar late one night.

"Well, I was wondering, I know Chow has always been too scared to ask and Alcide has always warned me not to, but I've had a few drinks and, damn I'm just gonna say it. I want to make a play for Sookie and it'd be better if I had your permission. If I didn't it'd just be awkward between us," he slurred quickly. Eric wasn't too surprised by this. He had seen how Charles and Chow lusted after her ever since she had first been introduced to them; they always brought her up when they were drunk and wanted to talk about how great Sookie must feel when Eric was lifting her in suggestion positions.

Sookie hadn't had many relationships in the past year, he briefly thought back to the few men she introduced to him, and who he promptly deduced they were assholes. He couldn't see her starting _anything_ with Charles. He wasn't her type. Plus, their first competition was coming up in January and he knew she would make no time for boyfriends. Sookie was very focused, very smart and very intense – Charles wouldn't be able to handle it. Eric shrugged with a huge smile on his face at the thought of his friend and his partner dating.

"If she's interested," Eric said. "Then, by all means."

He received a pat on the shoulder. "Thanks buddy." Eric shook his head not sure he'd thank him when Sookie knocked him into place. "So, then, what do you get out of all this?" It was a running joke with his friends. What did he get out of skating? He enjoyed it. It was his mother's passion. He was really good at it. Sookie needed him – he liked that.

He shrugged, taking a sip of his beer.

"I mean, I can't imagine touching and not having," Charles continued. "That must be torture. You probably have to jerk off before and after every practice." Chow laughed heartily and Alcide shook his head in disbelief at the idiocy.

"Yes I do," Eric muttered dryly. They all howled and he rolled his eyes at the joke they made _every time_ they hung out. "If you two don't mind, I'm going to head over to the girl there," he pointed slightly to an Asian woman seated at the bar. "And I'm going to work off some of this sexual frustration I have pent up." All their joking eased up as they watched Eric move toward the girl, all of them knowing he'd do just that.

After a while, the girl excused herself to the washroom and Eric went to his friends for a bit. They all gave him impressive looks as always. Eric smiled triumphantly, but noticed Chow looking over his shoulder and snickering. He gave his friend a glare.

"Looks like you'll have to get someone else's permission, Charles," Chow chortled. The four men looked over to where Chow's eyes were crinkled in amusement and Eric saw Sookie. His natural joy of seeing her was immediately squashed when a man sidled up behind her and put a hand at the small of her back, leaning over and kissing her head. Sookie looked up and laughed at him as they took their seats at a table on the other side of the bar.

"What the –," Eric mumbled, straightening up. This did not look like a first date. Based on body language, which he prided himself in knowing a lot about, Sookie had been keeping a secret from him. He couldn't understand why. They talked every single day about _everything_, Sookie had become his best friend over the past year and here she was, hiding a big part of her life – one that made her _smile_. At this point, Eric didn't think his initial feelings; his jealousy, would be a huge problem for them, until he saw the look she gave the man. A man who was about the same height as him, bald, broad and, damn it, he was good looking, in a different type of handsome to Eric, other girls were giving enviable looks to Sookie because of the man she was with. Fuck.

"Fuck," Charles grumbled. "Just my luck, right?" he said to them.

"Eric, are you –," Alcide didn't finish his sentence. Eric felt a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Why the pity? He was about to leave with a really hot girl.

"I'm going to say hi," Eric said when Alcide's hand on his shoulder gripped.

"Don't," he said. Eric gave him an incredulous look.

"Why the hell not?"

"Because you're drunk and pissed."

"I'm not drunk."

"You're drunk enough to make bad decisions. Leave with the girl and talk with Sookie tomorrow about this," Alcide said, raising his eyebrows, trying to ease his friend. Eric glanced back across the crowded bar and watched the man lean into Sookie who was shyly smiling until his lips covered hers. A rage flared inside him and he realized he had never seen her with another man like this and he did not care for it one bit.

He thought he had squashed his constant desire to have sex with her and replaced it with friendship, but now he felt possessive. She was _his_ skater. _His _friend. _His..._no, what the fuck was he thinking? She wasn't his anything. He tried to calm himself down, but his muscles were tense, his eyes glaring into their cuddle and sweet caresses. He wanted to barf, his stomach turned unfavourably.

The girl he had chatted up at the bar for the past forty minutes sneaked next to him, stroking his arm. He was surprised to see her, forgetting her almost completely since seeing Sookie.

"You ready to go?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes. In a word, "no". He wanted to stay here and watch Sookie and this man all night, but he knew he couldn't. He nodded and left the bar feeling worse now that they were out of his sight. He wondered if Sookie went home with the man that night and that thought tormented him until practice the next morning.

**R/R!!**


	8. Lines and Crossing

**AN: Here it is. Next chapter. Thank you all for the reviews. They mean a whole lot to me.**

**Thanks to my beta, elbly - my bot.  
**

Chapter 8: Lines and Crossing

He didn't sleep all night. He left the girl's apartment almost immediately after the sex and drove around the arena until it opened. He was the first one there, probably a half hour before Sookie would show up, and he was furious. She had kept that big of a secret from him and he didn't know what the hell that meant for their relationship. Heh! Relationship! They were skating partners. They were friends.

He ran a hand through his hair, pacing in front of the stands. He decided to just get on the ice and laced up his skates.

He waited a bit longer and then he heard the metal doors opening. Looking over he saw Sookie bounce in with a big smile on her face. His immediate thought was: _she got some last night_. How had he not seen it before? It was obvious how happy she was and it only enraged him further.

"Hey," she said looking surprised. "You're here early, couldn't sleep?" she sat in the stands and started to do up her skates.

"I went out last night actually," he replied. He could feel his jaw tighten. She didn't even notice his anger. She just smiled and nodded as she stepped onto the ice. "What'd you do?"

She grinned widely as she went over to him. It was normal for her to touch him, but when she put his hands on his waist this time he flinched. She didn't seem to notice. "Actually, I went out last night too."

"Oh," he said gruffly, as she pulled him back, trying to get them to skate. "What'd you do?"

Her face froze slightly and he wondered if she would tell him. Would it be better if he accused? Or waited for her to confess? He decided that he would hear her out first. He wouldn't yell at her in frustration, he would wait for her just like a friend, wait for her to be ready to tell him something she had been keeping from him.

"I have to tell you something," she said slowly, looking down at their feet. "Someone will be coming to watch us practice today and –"

Fuck. "Who?" he interrupted. He knew he shouldn't have because he saw her resolve waver.

"This guy," she said, before smiling. "This is weird. I mean, I don't know why I kept it from you and it's been tearing me up inside, because I trust your opinion and hold it above all others and I hate that I kept this from you. I hate myself for it and I hate that I haven't been completely honest when we talk about pretty much everything else...I'm dating someone and it's getting pretty serious." She shut her mouth, almost defiantly and gazed up at him intensely. When he didn't say anything, she had let only ten seconds pass before she blurted: "So what do you think?"

He gave her a sharp look. "I saw you two last night."

He realized how creepy that might sound, but he didn't particularly care at the moment. Her eyes bugged slightly. "I...I feel awful that I kept it from you."

"Why did you?" he asked, just when they heard the doors in the distance and Pam strode in.

"What are you doing? Get on that ice, get that routine going. I'll start the music," she yelled at them. Sookie immediately moved from him.

They skated at a parallel distance backwards, twisting and turning in sync, before they launched into the air for a spin and landing back. Sookie always practiced as if she was in front of an audience. She lifted her arm and gave the appropriate smile. He always found it adorable; today it pissed him off. He grabbed her hand and they skated around, staring at one another. He could practically hear his sister's gasp of approval at their tension. Did they really have sexual tension or was Pam really into anger and she associated it with sex?

He had both of her hands in his as he skated behind her. Sookie turned sharply to face him. She launched herself upward from her toe pick and he lifted her with nothing more than the force behind his powerful arms; she turned above his head. He held her up and her legs split apart as he skated around with her raised high above him. He removed one hand and the pressure on his arm only hurt slightly after the number of times they had rehearsed this move. He spun them around before returning his hand back to their firm grip. She moved her legs to one side and he pushed up slightly. She spun – her arms close to her chest into his awaiting arms and he set her down on the ground, fluidly.

"Perfect!" Pam cheered.

"Hey, babe, you fucking rock!" Eric's head whipped to the side and the bald man from last night was sitting in the stands. He halted and Sookie yanked at his hand. He hadn't even heard him enter, he was so absorbed in their skating, he hadn't even...He looked at Sookie and she gave him, what he thought, was a reassuring smile.

"Who are you?" Pam called out. Clearly she had been just as involved in the rehearsal as they were.

"Oh, Pam, that's...John Quinn," she let go of Eric's hand and skated over. John Quinn stood up and walked over to the board where Sookie and Pam stood. Eric went over too, watching this man carefully.

"Please, call me Quinn," he smiled and shook Pam's hand. His sister raised a brow and gave Eric a look he could not decipher. Quinn turned to Eric with a weird smile. "You're the man who fondles my lady." Sookie laughed and smacked him in the shoulder. Eric shook his hand and pulled back, regarding this guy. He didn't like that they were nearly the same height. He remembered feeling very satisfied that he was quite a bit taller than Sam. Now...

"Eric," he said, giving the guy a hard look. Quinn returned it; the handshake testing and full of warning.

"So," Pam said. "How long have you two been dating?"

Eric wanted to know the same damn thing.

"Two months," Quinn beamed. Sookie looked between the two of them awkwardly.

"Two months!?" Pam exploded. "And you're telling us now, Sookie?" Pam seemed more hurt than anything else. His sister loved gossip and this was just juicy. Plus, Pam always hassled Sookie about anything that would make her blush. "How's the sex?"

Sookie turned red. "Pam!"

Quinn winked, smiling broadly. "Fucking fantastic."

Sookie's eyes widened. "Quinn," she said softly.

Eric had no idea how to take this. He stood there feeling numb. Sookie was staring at him, he felt her eyes on him, but really, he couldn't think of a way to respond that should be normal. One by one, quite a few emotions settled in while he listened vaguely to Quinn prattle on to Pam. Sookie continued to look up at him with worry. Anger – This guy was a fucking douche. Betrayal – she kept this from him..._why?_ Jealousy – obvious reasons, he saw Sookie as his, she was his partner on the ice, but sometimes it felt as though there was something much bigger there. Possessive – He was here first, after all. Territorial – this guy was interfering on his time with Sookie, on their friendship. Sad – after everything, _this_ was how she treated him? Treated _them_, as a team?

He glanced down at Sookie, his brow furrowed, showing her just how displeased he was with this charade. In fact, he was about ready to storm out of there, but he didn't want to give Quinn the knowledge that he was upset.

"We should get back to practice," he said stiffly. She nodded firmly and he saw the spark of her defence mechanism kick in – strict, determined Sookie was here.

"Great, I'll be here," Quinn said. He looked at Eric and put two fingers to his eyes and then pointed them at him. "I'm watching you," he said, nodding to Sookie who just skated off. He then cracked a smile. "Just kidding. Good luck, babe!" _Babe_?! Eric found himself pouting as he joined Sookie in the center of the ice.

"I'm so sorry," she said as soon as they were alone.

"Don't," he said. "Just. Shut up, let's get this over with," he muttered, putting his hands on her waist, even though touching her at that moment made him flinch.

He could not lose himself in their practice for the next few hours. Quinn would interfere with a comment here or there that would drive him up the wall. He wanted to jump over the board so badly, and punch the guy out for several reasons. The main one being that this was their job and he was interrupting. Sookie didn't ask him to shut up once and that only deepened Eric's fury toward her and the situation.

When their practice was done for the day he got off the ice faster than normal. He found himself sitting next to Quinn while he removed his skates.

"Sookie looks a bit upset," Quinn said, looking out on the ice. Eric didn't look up. He wanted to get the hell out of here. "She talks about you a lot, man," Quinn had obviously decided they were having a conversation. "In fact, I didn't even know anything about her on our first date; she was so damn nervous she rambled on and on about her skating partner Eric and how amazing and funny and skilled you are." Eric felt Quinn's hand set on his shoulder and he resisted the urge to punch the asshole in the face. "I have to admit, I'm jealous, and judging by your facial expression, you are too. So, let me make this clear. You may touch her in all those places that I get to _without clothes_, but just remember, she comes home to me and with Sookie's rules, which I have heard many times, you'll never get to fuck that. I kind of feel sorry for you." Quinn had finished.

Eric turned his head over his shoulder to look up at the seat behind him to find Quinn was smirking.

"Oh," Eric found himself whispering. He did not know how to take those words in a mature way. The rage inside him was threatening to spill out and kill. He scratched his scruffy chin, trying to calm himself by clenching his teeth hard. "Well, know this. If you hurt her," Eric started. This was too cliché. He was pissed and at that moment he wanted Quinn to hurt Sookie just so he could shove that in her face. He was an evil bastard at times, but he didn't give a shit. He felt played. "No, you know what," Eric stood up, his boots on, and pulled his jacket over his shoulders. He was aware that Sookie and Pam were close enough to hear. "Whatever. You two can fuck like bunnies for all I care. You don't ever have to worry about me and Sookie hooking up. After today, it's abundantly clear I could never be with a _girl_ who kept secrets from me. And you, wonderful, fantastic-in-bed boyfriend, were left out of the equation for two months. So I'm either thinking you don't mean too much and that she's doing this as a clever ploy to make me jealous, which she has done before or – she likes you so much that she wanted to keep your little _thing_ private. Either way. I'll be here every day. See you, Sookie," he snapped over his shoulder and was, thankfully, out of the arena quick.

He hated that he was waiting in his car until he saw Pam go into the arena, jus so he wouldn't be left alone with Sookie. He jumped onto the ice with a very silent partner and they started their day with few words. He didn't enjoy the silence between the two of them, after a year of being nothing but open, it was disconcerting.

He knew without a doubt that when he left, Sookie would try and stop him so they could talk. He was dreading it, but at this point there was no avoiding it. Because Sookie, he sighed, was a talker; even when it was the last thing he wanted to do, she was ready to drop some of her self-proclaimed wisdom on him.

"Eric," she said. He glanced back and saw Pam roll her eyes.

He zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "I'm going to McDonalds, you can talk to me over fast food," he mumbled. She nodded numbly. He chose it because he knew how much she hated fast-food and how she always scolded him when he'd eat it.

He found himself buying a lot to eat; he was a big guy and after practice he often found himself famished. Sookie took a seat across from him at the table, having ordered just a coffee. It was rather slow at McDonalds, with breakfast finishing up and almost everyone at work and school.

She stared at his hash brown disdainfully, but he ignored her. "I'm such a bitch," she began.

"Yep," he agreed, moving quickly onto his egg mcmuffin.

She let out a shaky breath. "Eric, I didn't want it to ruin us. We're _so_ good now and I guess that Quinn would just mess things up."

"You guessed right, but I think you holding it back from me, was even worse," he didn't even glance up at her.

She turned the coffee cup in her hand. "Can you blame me? You were never really nice to my other dates..."

He caught her eye and glared. "Oh and you were just a pocket full of sunshine to my girlfriends."

Her eyes flashed and her demeanour stiffened. He returned the look and continued eating. "You punched the last guy I was with, Calvin, we only went on two dates, I introduce you, I go to the bathroom, and he's on the ground, bleeding."

"He was twenty years older than you."

"And that's an excuse?"

Eric shook his head; he was not in the mood to listen to this. "Whatever, Sookie, marry the douche with purple eyes. Have his flower-eye-coloured babies for all I care, all of them bald and dumb. I just don't want to have to deal with talking out the issue again," he muttered, looking up at her. He shrugged his shoulders. "Let's forget it. You don't give me the courtesy to tell me when you're dating someone for two months, and I won't give you the courtesy to give a fuck about him. I don't want to hear about your relationship woes, I don't want to hear how amazing the sex is and I don't want to hear about how smooth his head is – you and me will be all about skating. Our friendship is on hold while you have a boyfriend, that's how it is."

Her mouth hung open in disbelief as she glared at him. "Our friendship is _not_ on hold because I have a _boyfriend._ What decade do you live in? You're my partner, Eric, I care about you and us and I'm not going to ever give up on that because my boyfriend might take issue."

"He's already taken issue, Sookie. He said as much yesterday."

"So what? He's just going to have to deal," she got that stubborn look on her face that he hardly ever had the energy to reason with. He would mostly just nod at what she had to say and take satisfaction in knowing she was irrational and wrong; as long as he kept quiet he could feel satisfied internally.

"Alright," Eric found himself smiling. "Let's see how this works. I'll see you tomorrow morning." He hadn't finished eating but he hoped she would take the hint and leave.

"Are we still going to the museum tomorrow after practice?"

"Sookie," Eric sighed in frustration. "Please, just shut up. Stop being so fucking neurotic."

She rolled her eyes. "You stop being so dramatic," she muttered.

He scoffed. "Says you," he laughed slightly, unable to help feeling lighter. "You're the most dramatic person I know."

"I am not," she gasped. "I'm realistic. _You_ are the one who needs to storm out to make a point. I'm very direct," she said shrugging.

"I'm direct too," he defended.

She smiled. "Yes, but not with me." He didn't know what else to say to that. He wondered how true that was and realized it was very. She had him whipped and they weren't even fucking. How depressing, he noted. "You are direct with me," she recovered. "Like now, you are. I appreciate it Eric. I appreciate you."

He made a disgruntled noise. "Just cut the crap. We are what we are. You and I are skating together no matter how pissed or frustrated we get with one another," he said, catching her light blue eyes, wide and worried. "Calm the fuck down. I'm not going to run from you. I can see that you're scared about that."

She bowed her head. "You scare me, Eric. No one but you can put me this on edge."

He watched her facial expression, saw how completely serious she was and thought before he spoke. "I'm not quite sure what that means. But I think you're crossing a line," he lifted a brow and Sookie blushed. He liked that he could do that to her. Regardless, what he said was true. They had avoided talking about the problems they had in the beginning with their feelings, now they suppressed them and never brought it up – it worked.

She looked away and grinned. "I have to cross lines with you, otherwise you get bored."

He laughed and shook his head. "Fair enough."

"We're good now?" she asked cautiously. He hated that she suddenly felt like she had to carefully tread over their situation, but he had to admit that for the past couple days of brewing over this shit, he was glad she was.

"We're good as long as I don't have to look into that fucking feline's face. It's freaky," Eric muttered.

"Alright," Sookie put her hand pointedly on the table, he looked up from his food. "I won't put up with him having a problem with our relationship and I won't put up with you trash talking him any chance you get. Understood?"

Eric groaned and cleared up his hot cakes. "Fine, whatever. I don't ever want to talk about him again anyway."

"Good," she relaxed, her shoulders dropping slightly. He wondered how long this Quinn-thing would last and what could be done to push it over the edge.


	9. Pie and Mud

**AN: As of this chapter, ON EDGE will be on temporary hiatus. Until I finish Sometimes a Fantasy. I've realized that writing two stories at once just messes with my head so I'm going to finish up my other in-progress fic. I hope you all understand and I'll get back to this story eventually. I swear.**

**Thanks to my awesome beta, elbly. Check out her stuff. She rocks my socks.  
**

Chapter 9: Pie and Mud

There had been one week of _this_. Eric glared disdainfully across the arena to where Quinn sat, watching him put Sookie back on the ice. She grabbed his upper arms as he looked down at her.

"Ignore him. It's not about him. It's about us and this routine," she whispered furiously.

"He keeps staring."

"What are you, eleven? Ignore him," she said.

"Sookie!" Quinn called across the ice. Eric was about ready to jump the board and pummel Mr. Clean into the stands. "Your phone is ringing!"

"That's alright, Quinn, I'll get it at break!" she shouted, giving Eric a warning look. When he lifted her above his head, cupping her bottom in his hands to support her weight, he heard Quinn shout out:

"Don't get any ideas, buddy!".

Eric moved his hand and Sookie shrieked as she dropped unexpectedly. He caught her waist and put her down gently. In a flash he skidded to the board, a flurry of ice flakes showering Quinn. His mouth hung open in outrage.

"Listen, _buddy_," Eric started, spitting vehemently. "I need you to shut the fuck up. This is my arena. And during this time, Sookie is mine, just like I'm hers. I don't need you pissing all over the rink, to know how jealous you are. Man up or get the fuck out." He turned sharply just as he heard Pam chortle and skated back to Sookie who had her hands on her waist, looking at him disapproving.

"You couldn't let it go?" she asked.

"He's shut up now. So, you're welcome," he muttered, pulling her into their routine. Sookie didn't look thankful and after Eric's outburst, the remainder of practice didn't go well at all.

When they took a break, Quinn was still waiting at the rink's edge. He glared at Eric over Sookie's shoulder as he handed her phone to her. Eric gulped down his water and Pam rolled her eyes to her brother.

"If this keeps up, I may have to kill him," she muttered. Eric nodded in agreement.

"Oh," Sookie said looking at them. "Sorry, my brother's called me a couple times now. I should..." In that small sentence Eric felt her worry and her panic.

"Can't he wait? You're doing some serious skating here," Quinn joked. Sookie smiled weakly and excused herself, leaving the arena to talk in the hall. He watched the door as she began to pace in front of the small windows. "Hey, you don't have to be a creep. Stop watching her," Quinn said. Eric had to hold his arm tight to his side to avoid lashing out.

He kept an eye on Sookie anyway while Quinn mumbled something about going to the washroom, and he went around the rink to the doors closer to the men's room.

Sookie put a hand to her mouth, and her shoulders hunched. He heard a small sob through the door and the alarm shot through his body. He got off the ice and made his way on the rubber floor. The doors made a slight swooshing noise as they opened and she whipped around to face him; her cheeks stained with her tears. He put his hand on her waist, the other on her elbow that was bent for the phone at her ear.

"Okay," she cried, into the phone. "I'll...yes. Oh, Jason." There was silence and Sookie sniffed. Eric felt a tear fall onto wrist, her head bent down as she nodded. "Okay. I'll get the next flight out...I love you too." She hung up and made a small gasp. She glanced up at Eric. "Gran just died."

Eric knew what Gran meant to Sookie. He had never met the woman, but he had found himself on the phone with her a couple times. Sookie spoke of her fondly and he always knew how much she missed her grandmother. He cradled her cheek and wiped her tears with his thumb. She smiled slightly.

"It's...fine. She lived a good, long life," she tried to reassure herself.

"She loved you," Eric said. This was the woman that raised his partner; he knew what she meant to her. He understood. He had lost his own mother.

"Yeah, she did," she nodded, her hand on his chest. "I just – I should have been there."

Eric shook his head. "No, she was proud of you, Sookie. The few times I talked to her she just went on and on about what an amazing skater you are. And she was right," he smiled, stepping forward and kissing between her brow. "Do you need anything?" He murmured against her forehead.

"A hug," she whispered. He wrapped her in his arms; hers were curled around his shoulders. He pulled her close; her cheek rested on his chest, her hair at his neck. She let out a small sob and he rubbed her back soothingly. She nuzzled closer, holding him tight.

"What's going on?" They broke apart slowly and Sookie wiped her face clear. "Babe, what's the matter?" Eric stepped away as he watched Quinn take his place.

"My Gran died," she said.

Eric leaned against the wall, wondering if he should leave or not. He didn't want to see or hear Quinn's words of comfort so he walked away, making his way over to Pam who was giving him a questioning look.

"What's up? Let's get started."

"Sookie, just found out her Gran died," Eric informed her. Pam gave a sympathetic look, but it was odd on her face. "Save it for, Sookie."

"Thank you."

He woke up the next morning and since he didn't have to go to the arena, he found himself at a loss of what to do. It was four thirty in the morning, his mental alarm clock right on time as usual. Sighing he whipped off the covers and turned on his phone for the day. He made coffee, something he hadn't done in a year – he always bought it on the way to practice.

There was a voicemail from Sookie so he checked it. "_We just landed safe in New Orleans and now we're taking a small plane to Shreveport_." She informed him. We. Quinn had gone with her and he was here. He tried not to get too mad about that, but she had insisted he stay behind – he was teaching skating on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for kids ten and under, and Sookie stressed to him how important it was. "_I'll call you again tomorrow. I'm really...I'm okay. Just wanted to let you know."_ She hung up abruptly.

He sighed and vowed to call her in a few hours, knowing she was an early riser too.

He shouldn't be here, he kept telling himself. He should cancel the lessons and go to Bon Temps, Louisiana and be there for Sookie. Almost as soon as he thought that, he was in front of the computer looking up flights, the soonest one was in three hours. He glanced at the clock. At nine.

He called Sookie.

Of course, she was awake. "Eric? Did you get my message?"

"I'm flying down."

There was silence. "What?"

"I just booked my ticket." He clicked the button and was printing it before she could protest. "I'll be there this afternoon."

"Eric, you don't have to," she said softly.

"I want to be there for you, Sookie. You're...my best friend." There he said it. He wasn't sure the moment was supposed to be as dramatic as he was internalizing it, but there it was.

He heard her laugh slightly. "You're mine too. Crazy, huh?"

"Insane," he agreed. He waited, hearing her sigh.

"I'd actually," she began. Her voice lowered and he wondered why. "I really want you here. I didn't want to be selfish and ask you, but – Eric, could you?"

"Done," he said.

"Thank you," she said gently, "for doing this."

"Oh, I'm not doing this just for you," he said. "I'm expecting a grand tour of Sam's trailer." He got the reaction he wanted when Sookie laughed heartily.

He travelled down the deserted Hummingbird road, trying to find Sookie's driveway, he had already pulled a U-y when he realized he had gone too far. Finally he saw another car and followed it up the uneven drive. "This was where she lived," he said to himself seeing about ten other cars parked on her property. He got out of his car, standing tall. Four women climbed out of the car he had followed and stared at him. They whispered to one another, never taking their eyes from him, but he didn't care. He raised one brow at them as he cleared the steps of the porch in one stretch of his long legs. He opened the screen door and held it for the women to walk in first, all of them giggled at him. Two of them were in their mid-fifties and the other two were in their thirties. He smiled politely.

The house was very quiet, as people conversed respectfully with one another. Yep, someone had definitely died. From the turn out, he gathered that Adele Stackhouse was beloved in the small town. He couldn't see Sookie as he stood awkwardly in front of the stairs.

"Eric." He turned around and saw Jason, who gave him a one-handed hug. Eric had met Sookie's brother a couple times before when he'd flown up to visit. He liked him and Jason seemed to be fond of Eric.

"Jason. Sorry for your loss," Eric said.

Jason smiled slightly. "Thank you. I'm glad you're here. Sookie's gone nuts." Jason shook his head and crossed his arms. "Her asshole boyfriend isn't helping. He keeps saying, '_let her be, she needs space,_' when my sister, so clearly doesn't. She's acting like a complete bitch to everyone. I've never seen her like this."

"Maxine Fortenberry, you put that down!" Eric heard his partner shriek. His head whipped to the side, wondering where she was. He started to move away from Jason.

"Here, she's in the kitchen. Don't worry about Maxine, she probably deserves whatever Sookie's giving her," Jason said, slapping Eric on the back.

"This is Gran's pie!" Jason hurriedly ushered Eric towards the entrance of an old kitchen where Sookie was clutching something tight to her chest, glaring at a large middle-aged woman. "Get out of my house!"

Eric could only assume the woman stood next to the refrigerator was Maxine.

"Sook, relax," Jason said, holding out his hands in caution. Sookie glared at her brother, not even noticing Eric, she shoved the pie into her brother's hands and stalked into the living room. "Sorry, Maxine. She's not taking it so well." Jason put the pie back in the fridge.

"Someone really needs to talk to that girl," Maxine said, affronted by Sookie's behaviour. From what Eric could tell, she was a nosey bitch and Sookie had every right to yell at this woman. He turned around to follow Sookie.

"That's just great, Arlene. Trailing mud into my house. The least you could have done is take off your shoes." Her voice was pulling him closer.

"Sook, maybe you should take a break." Eric heard Sam's voice and he instinctively felt the need to yank the guy away from _his_ partner. He saw Sookie glare at Sam, her back to him.

"Sam, I do not need you telling me what to do. I'm the hostess and I do not appreciate people coming into my home and messing up the place."

Eric came up behind her. Sam glanced up, looking more than pissed off by his appearance. He smirked at the small man and put a hand on his partner's shoulder. Sookie tensed up immediately.

"Maybe you should back off a bit, Sam," he said. Sookie's shoulders drooped when she heard his voice. "Sookie can tell off whoever the hell she wants. This isn't about being appropriate." Sookie turned around to face him, her harsh expression falling away.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," he caught her eye and she stared at him. He saw tears well in her eyes. "Let's go for a walk." He put his arm around her shoulder and they walked out of the front door.

Briefly, he wondered where Quinn was. Then he had the visual of the bald douche peeling himself off the highway and realized he didn't care.

"Walk me by Sam's trailer," Eric nudged her and she snorted. They got to the cemetery and she started to cry, away from everybody but him. He held her close to his chest and waited for her to stop.

"She shouldn't have touched the pie," she sobbed into his chest. He just stroked her hair, really not knowing what to do in this situation, only knowing he wanted her to smile again. Eric felt like he had to try this pie. It seemed to be delicious enough to scream about.

"Well, it's safe now." He was comforting her with talk about pie, and not with the act of eating it for comfort. She nodded and he felt her tears go through his white buttoned shirt. She finally pulled away and he looked at her red, tear-stained face. He wanted to hold her until she was all better. "You needed to cry."

She shrugged, wiping her nose. "I didn't want any of them to see me cry." She nodded back toward the house. "They were so...critical of me with Bill. I don't know."

"It's your grandma. You can cry, Sookie." He rubbed her arms and finally realized how hot it was in Louisiana in November. Sookie was just in a dress and she was perfectly comfortable. "If any one of them makes a comment about you crying, I'll kick them out."

She smiled. "Jason said the same." Sighing, she asked him if he still wanted to walk. He nodded and they moved their way through the graves. It was eerie to Eric, but Sookie seemed completely at ease and comfortable in the cemetery. They passed a few men digging a hole and when Sookie froze, Eric could only assume it was for her grandmother. He held her hand and she squeezed it tight, pulling him back toward her old farmhouse.

He followed without a word.


	10. Crying and Collapsing

**AN: FAIL. I just wanted to say that lately I've been getting a lot of reviews for this story and my other ones and I HATE myself for not being able to respond to every one of them. I'm going to get back on that. God. SHAME. Things are slowing down only to pick back up. School starts next week and apparently I write faster and better when I'm procrastinating, so we'll see how it goes. **

**If anyone is still reading this, I'm sorry for the wait. **

**I love you all. **

Chapter 10: Crying and Collapsing

Eric didn't like to think of himself as a particularly negative person – but who was he kidding? He was as pessimistic as it came on most days. Funerals didn't help his mood. It was even worse when it was for his skating partner who was currently crying into her big oaf of a boyfriend's neck. And it was even _worse_ because the heat was intense enough to make the happiest person consider knocking themselves out by slamming their head into a tombstone.

He moved minutely in his suit. He fantasized about sitting in the crowd of people mourning for the loss of beloved Adele Stackhouse, completely naked. The metal folding chair would feel glorious on his bare skin. The woman next to him waved her fan harder and Eric angled his head to catch some of the dry breeze. He let out a snort and leaned back in his chair, receiving several looks. He realized that only made his suit press into his sweaty skin and went back to leaning forward.

Sookie's blond head was bent in front of Eric. He saw a trickle of sweat fall down the nape of her neck and disappear into her shirt. He eyed disdainfully the bald head beside her. This was ridiculous. He felt lower than normal and wondered how much longer he'd be able to put up with Quinn, douche-bag caricature.

If anyone else knew what the priest was saying, Eric doubted it, his voice sounded warped in the swirling heat. He felt bad for glancing down at his watch. He looked at the back of Sookie's head and realized, maybe Quinn wasn't so bad for her in this moment because he wasn't so sure he'd be completely comforting in this situation. He imagined himself snapping at her for clinging to him when he was so fucking hot.

When everyone else stood for respect at the end, Eric felt shaky as he got to his feet, swaying slightly. He cursed his Nordic genetics that made him able to tolerate all amounts of cold but melt at the high temperature. He watched Sookie and Jason, through hazy vision, pay respect to their grandmother. The priest said a final prayer and then everyone began to leave, talking to one another about the heat and how wonderful Mrs. Stackhouse was. Eric shuffled through the folded chairs and let out a sigh of relief at the small air he inhaled being away from the rows of people. He looked over at Sookie who was standing next to Jason and Quinn as people came up to them to regard their sympathies.

Eric felt lost. What did he do now? Last night he had found himself curled on Sookie's couch. In conclusion, he got absolutely no sleep since his body couldn't fit on it at all. He decided he'd get a room at that disgusting looking motel in town if he decided to stay another day.

He waited in the heat for his turn to speak with Sookie and her brother. When the crowd broke off a bit he stepped forward and saw Sookie give him a small smile before stepping toward him and wrapping her arms around his torso. And for a second, he forgot about how sweaty and delirious he was.

Then he remembered when she pulled back and looked up at his face. Her brows furrowing.

"Eric? Are you okay?" she asked him. It was as if she gave him permission to be unwell and Eric Northman was collapsing in Sookie Stackhouse's arms.

He must have lost consciousness for only a few seconds for when he regained it he was with Sookie on the ground.

"Quinn, get him some water!" she snapped and her hand was pushing back his hair. "Oh God, Eric. Can you hear me?" He nodded minutely, wondering if he was crushing her body. He knew he was lying on her legs or some other body part of hers that was probably screaming in agony under his weight. She didn't seem concerned about it.

Look at him, taking the attention away from her dead grandmother. Now she was babying him in this heat. He felt like an idiot and tried to get up. "If I've learned anything with my life in the South, it's to not rush yourself in this temperature. Stay still." His head lolled back and he felt her hand push his neck up so she could put the bottled water to his lips.

He downed as much as he could before he felt another pair of hands under his arms.

"Let's get you up, big guy." He thought it must be Jason. Sookie helped with getting Eric to his feet. He was a bit shaky but he felt her hand in his.

"Can you guys give us a minute? We'll meet you back at the house."

"Sookie...are you sure?" Quinn asked warily.

"Yes," she said in that voice, that anyone with a right mind knew to listen to. He focused on his hand and hers clasped as she walked him away from her grandmother's grave. She handed him the water bottle and he gulped it down. "Better?"

He nodded, wiping at his brow. He let go of her and took off his suit jacket. Sookie took it from him and draped it over her arm.

"Can I show you something?" she asked.

An air conditioner? He thought miserably.

"Come," she said. They walked for a bit. Needless to say, the water didn't last long. Sookie pulled out another bottle from under his jacket and he took it gratefully. They stopped and Eric took a moment to realize they were standing in front of a grave that said: _William T. Compton_.

"Bill?" he asked hoarsely. She nodded.

"I loved him," she said.

"Of course you did."

She met his eyes. "I respected the hell out of him. He was a good partner and a good friend. I wasn't very nice to him most of the time." She smiled weakly. "I have bit of a personality dysfunction, in case you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I've noticed." The heat made him extra blunt.

"Thanks," she said, good humouredly. "What I'm saying is. I can be a bitch. I am a bitch. And I take it out on you and make you feel like shit and I realized this mostly when I was standing there watching my Gran get put into the ground. She would be so disappointed with my bad behaviour."

Eric wondered if it was the heat that made her say these things. They made him faint like a girl, so maybe they made Sookie finally apologetic.

"I've also realized...Quinn is a mistake."

Did the sun make him hallucinate? "I know this already," he said, smiling at her.

"I used him to make you jealous."

"It worked."

She pursed her lips. "I'm sorry." Her small shrug almost had him rambling about how he didn't care and then maybe pull her in for a kiss. Then he realized, he'd already done enough girly things today and crying about his feelings wasn't another one he needed to add to the list.

"Okay. I'm sorry about your grandma."

Sookie didn't say anything for a moment. "Me too."

Eric glanced back down at Bill's grave and wondered if he ever felt as frustrated as Eric when it came to Sookie Stackhouse. He thought about that for only a millisecond before he came to the conclusion that, he was pretty fucking sure that him and Bill would've related quite a bit over their ice skating partner.

"I'm probably going to catch a plane out of here tonight. I'll drive to Baton Rouge as soon as we get back to the house," Eric said, giving her a side-long glance.

"Oh, okay. Um, tell Pam I'll be back on the ice real soon. I'll leave in a couple days, I just have a few more things to settle," her voice grew small. He leaned over and pulled her into his side, despite it all. He kissed the top of her head. "I love you," she sighed. He felt her snuggle up to him and he wondered if he smelled all sweaty and gross, which is what he felt.

He kissed her head again before pulling away and feeling more than ready to get back to the snow. "Tell me," he said as they made their way up the small hill to her house. "Is it always this hot in November?"

"Well," she said. "It is record-breaking heat for this time of year, but you're just a big abominable snowman. I can't believe you're falling over, it's really not that bad." Her laughter sounded nice.

He shook his head. "I was made for snow."

"I was made for sun." She jumped up a couple steps on the porch and for once they were close to each other's height. "We're so opposite and yet so alike." She slapped a hand on his shoulder and kept it there. "Thanks for coming, Eric. It means a lot." He saw her eyes search his face and wondered if he dreamt her tongue flick out and lick her lips. Was she moving closer? "I, just, I wouldn't be able to be okay without you." Her eyes were definitely on his lips, he felt a moment of glee then panic. He turned his head slightly.

He wasn't sure what else to say. "Tell Jason goodbye for me." She nodded almost disappointed, he noticed. He did them both a favour and broke away from her touch and turned back to the rental car.

He drove down the narrow drive and onto the highway, thinking over everything. Her hair in the sunlight, her softness, her warmth – she had caught him when he fell. What was she to him? She loved him. So what? As a friend? Why did he care? He shook the steering wheel and realized he just wanted to get out of the South and back to somewhere, anywhere that had snow. He wanted a brisk breeze and gloves and boots. Bitterness, like his personality.

He needed to get away from Sookie Stackhouse. He needed space.

But how could he get that when they worked together? When they were partners? When she's telling him she loves him in a cemetery? How fucking symbolic was that?

He thought about the heat, the pressure, the way her skin glowed, her breath, her scent, her tears...This was going to be a long drive. He turned up the air in the car and switched on the radio, wanting to distract his brain from Sookie.

No amount of music or reading could busy his mind the whole flight and he found himself napping on the plane with dreams of her. His first thought awake when they landed was, of course, Sookie.

He felt claustrophobic around all these people and needed something he could separate from his impromptu trip.

When he stepped out of the terminal, he breathed in a sigh of relief as light snow fell onto the ground. This was where he belonged. Most of the unease he felt the entire trip, drifted away into the night. He set off through the parking lot, hoping that he could find his car and leave in a reasonable amount of time. He checked his phone while waiting in the line of cars trying to get onto the highway. He leaned back and saw three missed messages.

"Eric, you are so romantic. Flying down to hick-ville to save your precious partner from big bad Death, but listen, asshole, you and her need to get your asses back into practice. I know she lost her grandmother and all that, blah, blah, shit, but we have the World Tournament in two months and I didn't spend the past year getting you two together to watch it all go down to the fucking backwaters. Call me soon."

His sister was such a sentimental fool. He deleted it and hoped she was much nicer to Sookie when she talked to her.

"Hey, it's me. I hope you arrived safely. Pam just called me and was really nice, but something tells me she bitched to you about my absence. I figure I'll be making my way back up north to you in the next couple days. Tell Pam not to worry, I don't think she believed me when I said I'd return. I think she expects me to get knocked up by the first gap-toothed hometown boy I meet at the Piggly Wiggly. See you soon."

Eric sighed and had to force himself to delete it. There was no need to save it, expect maybe to hear her voice again and – _what_ was he becoming? A man with little or no self-respect.

"Hey, Eric, it's Alcide. Maria and I were going to the bar tonight and I'm not sure if you're back yet or not, but it'd be great if you can come out and meet us. Call me."

He weighed his options, while pulling his car into his driveway. He could either wallow in self-pity or force himself to get a life. He changed and got out of his suit, he wondered how he had handled being in it all day. He sat in front of the TV and considered just staying in. As reluctant as he was to leave his comfortable position on the couch, he got up and headed back out, opting to walk to the bar. That way he could get drunk and not have to worry about driving. He could make good decisions on occasion. Right now, he wasn't so sure stepping away from a kissy-face Sookie was one of them.

His eyes searched the bar until he saw his friends. Alcide and Maria seemed surprised to see him, which didn't make much sense to Eric when they had called and invited him. Another woman joined them at their table and he recognized her as Amelia, Sookie's friend. He smiled at her slightly, not really knowing much about her. He eyed the situation he was in and hoped his friends and Amelia didn't notice that it looked like they were on a double date. He ordered a beer and finished his first, quickly.

"How's our Sookie doing?" Eric looked over and noticed that Alcide and Maria were gone. He glanced back over at Amelia and saw that most of the bar was empty. He looked down at the table and saw quite a few empty glasses and he wondered how much time had passed and how much he had drank. Everything was fuzzy and he felt unable to hold himself upright.

"Oh, she's good."

"Was she upset?"

"Yes, yes she was." His head drooped down to his chest and he wondered if he could get away with sleeping in the booth for the night. He was here often and the tab he gave to this bar was surely enough for rent for a month.

Amelia was beside him and she was very close. He leaned his head against hers, and he wasn't sure if those were her lips on his neck. His hand came down onto her shoulder and he looked down just when she moved up. Her head hit his chin and his teeth clamped down. They laughed slightly before their lips were meshed together in a drunken, sloppy kiss.

He was pushed away and Amelia laughed. "Alright, big guy, I don't think I'm nearly as drunk as you to make this poor decision. Let's get you home."

Everything was disjointed and disconnected as they made their way out of the bar and the few blocks back to his place. Amelia had her arm around his waist and he wasn't sure if he was leaning on her or not. She somehow got him up the porch steps and Eric gratefully leaned against the wall.

"Eric, where's your keys?" He started patting at his pockets and Amelia ended up going into them for him. She found the keys and opened the door. He moved slowly and Amelia closed them in his house. "I see that stairs will be an issue and you're probably too big for the couch."

Eric held onto the railing trying to gain enough sense to take steps.

"I'm kind of worried that you won't survive the night. You drank a lot, which probably isn't too much for a man of your size, but it's enough to worry me." He broke through his bedroom door and collapsed onto his bed. He felt someone tugging at his feet and thought Amelia must be taking off his shoes. "I'll be here in the morning to make sure you're still alive and then we can get hang over food. Alright, Eric?"

"Yes," he spoke into the mattress. He felt hands move his head to the side so he could breathe easier.

"Okay, goodnight." The lights were turned off and so did his body.


End file.
